Hydrogels for the Application of Articular Cartilage Tissue Engineering: A Review of Hydrogels

Abstract

e treatment of articular cartilage damage is a major task in the medical science of orthopedics. Hydrogels possess the ability to form multifunctional cartilage grafts since they possess polymeric swellability upon immersion in an aqueous phase. Polymeric hydrogels are capable of physiological swelling and greasing, and they possess the mechanical behavior required for use as articular cartilage substitutes. e chondrogenic phenotype of these materials may be enhanced by embedding living cells. Artificial hydrogels fabricated from biologically derived and synthesized polymeric materials are also used as tissue-engineering scaffolds; with their controlled degradation profiles, the release of stimulatory growth factors can be achieved. In order to make use of these hydrogels, cartilage implants were formulated in the laboratory to demonstrate the bionic mechanical behaviors of physiological cartilage. is paper discusses developments concerning the use of polymeric hydrogels for substituting injured cartilage tissue and assisting tissue growth. ese gels are designed with consideration of their polymeric classification, mechanical strength, manner of biodegradation, limitations of the payload, cellular interaction, amount of cells in the 3D hydrogel, sustained release for the model drug, and the different approaches for incorporation into adjacent organs. is article also summarizes the different advantages, disadvantages, and the future prospects of hydrogels.

Multifunctional load-bearing hybrid hydrogel with combined drug release and photothermal conversion functions

“…Unfortunately, cartilage is an avascular and nervefree tissue, and its healing/self-regeneration upon damage remains a significant clinical challenge 3 . To date, various hydrogel systems, such as injectable hydrogels 4 and 3D printed cell-laden hydrogels 5 , have been deployed as bioscaffolds for articular cartilage tissue engineering 6,7 .…”

Tough and Low Friction Polyvinyl Alcohol Hydrogels Loaded with Anti-inflammatories for Cartilage Replacement

“…Presently, the most promising biomaterials for this purpose are hydrogels-crosslinked networks of hydrophilic polymers with a high capacity to absorb water and other molecules-which, besides being biocompatible, can be tailored to combine exceptional lubricity with suitable mechanical properties, as in natural cartilage [2,5]. Several possibilities can be found in literature, including hydrogels based on polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyethylene glycol, polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate, silicon rubber, gelatin and polyacrylamide [3,6].…”

Injectable Biomaterials for Dental Tissue Regeneration

“…This is a narrative review, which discusses the state of the science of injectable biomaterials for dental tissue engineering from a theoretical and contextual point of view. Biomaterials, which can be either synthetic, natural and pure or composite materials play an important role in dental tissue engineering to interface with surgical procedures and cell biology [1,2], and also include injectable biomaterials which can serve as stem cell carriers and supramolecular hydrogels, as well as in situ gelling hydrogels [3][4][5]. The modern design of micro-carriers can accomplish biodegradability, biocompatibilities, as well as offer required features for improving biological responses [2,[6][7][8].…”