Self-Healing Hydrogels: Development, Biomedical Applications, and Challenges

Abstract

Polymeric hydrogels have drawn considerable attention as a biomedical material for their unique mechanical and chemical properties, which are very similar to natural tissues. Among the conventional hydrogel materials, self-healing hydrogels (SHH) are showing their promise in biomedical applications in tissue engineering, wound healing, and drug delivery. Additionally, their responses can be controlled via external stimuli (e.g., pH, temperature, pressure, or radiation). Identifying a suitable combination of viscous and elastic materials, lipophilicity and biocompatibility are crucial challenges in the development of SHH. Furthermore, the trade-off relation between the healing performance and the mechanical toughness also limits their real-time applications. Additionally, short-term and long-term effects of many SHH in the in vivo model are yet to be reported. This review will discuss the mechanism of various SHH, their recent advancements, and their challenges in tissue engineering, wound healing, and drug delivery.

Advanced Dressings for Chronic Wound Management

“…Additionally, advancements in biosensors have facilitated the quantitative monitoring of biomarkers, enhancing the quality of treatment and care for chronic wounds. 131 Finally, the development of smart dressings, incorporating 3D printing 124,125 and microelectronic sensors, underscores the importance of technological advancements in wound care management. An ideal real-time monitoring advanced dressing is one that balances moisture, promotes oxygen exchange, isolates proteases, stimulates growth factors, prevents infection, facilitates autolytic debridement, and promotes granulation and tissue production, simultaneously detecting wound progress using AI tools.…”

“…In the past decade, advanced and smart dressings have provided real-time physiochemical surveillance at wound sites, thereby diminishing the necessity for frequent dressing changes and complications. Additionally, advancements in biosensors have facilitated the quantitative monitoring of biomarkers, enhancing the quality of treatment and care for chronic wounds . Finally, the development of smart dressings, incorporating 3D printing , and microelectronic sensors, underscores the importance of technological advancements in wound care management.…”

Self-Healing, Flexible and Smart 3D Hydrogel Electrolytes Based on Alginate/PEDOT:PSS for Supercapacitor Applications

“…To introduce the features of self healing and flexibility into high-performance hydrogel solutions, alginate is used as a polymeric substrate, which not only induces super-elasticity in the electrolyte, but also acts as a stable and environmentally friendly precursor [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. There have been several reports on the use of polymeric alginate along with acidic KCl, H 3 BO 3 , KOH, and LiCl [ 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

Self-healing hydrogel as an injectable implant: translation in brain diseases

“…Hydrogel can well mimic extracellular matrix (ECM) because of its three-dimensional network structure with high water content [ 10 ]. Since the networks of hydrogels are prepared through various chemical or physical crosslinking mechanisms, they can provide a broad range of functions to the hydrogels, such as elasticity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, to meet the requirement for different tissues [ 11 ]. Conventional hydrogel is normally not sensitive to changes in the environment, such as temperature or pH.…”