Limitations Of Hydrogels Research Articles

Hydrogels and Microgels: Driving Revolutionary Innovations in Targeted Drug Delivery, Strengthening Infection Management, and Advancing Tissue Repair and Regeneration.

Hydrogels and microgels are emerging as pivotal platforms in biomedicine, with significant potential in targeted drug delivery, enhanced infection management, and tissue repair and regeneration. These gels, characterized by their high water content, unique structures, and adaptable mechanical properties, interact seamlessly with biological systems, making them invaluable for controlled and targeted drug release. In the realm of infection management, hydrogels and microgels can incorporate antimicrobial agents, offering robust defenses against bacterial infections. This capability is increasingly important in the fight against antibiotic resistance, providing innovative solutions for infection prevention in wound dressings, surgical implants, and medical devices. Additionally, the biocompatibility and customizable mechanical properties of these gels make them ideal scaffolds for tissue engineering, supporting the growth and repair of damaged tissues. Despite their promising applications, challenges such as ensuring long-term stability, enhancing therapeutic agent loading capacities, and scaling production must be addressed for widespread adoption. This review explores the current advancements, opportunities, and limitations of hydrogels and microgels, highlighting research and technological directions poised to revolutionize treatment strategies through personalized and regenerative approaches.

Is Hydrogel an Appropriate Bioadhesive Material for Sutureless Oral Wound Closure?

An effective surgical adhesive must possess strength, biodegradability, flexibility, non-toxicity, and the ability to accommodate to tissue movement. However, existing adhesives in the market lack some of these crucial properties. Both synthetic cyanoacrylate and natural fibrin glue have been explored for sutureless oral surgery, but they come with specific limitations. This perspective review aims to explore the novel potential of hydrogels as bioadhesives for wound closure in the oral cavity. This review thoroughly examines the properties, applications, and limitations of hydrogels as bioadhesive materials for wound closure within the human body. We first provide a comprehensive description of materials used for sutureless oral surgery. Next, drawing on our expertise in the field of oral surgery, we propose novel potential applications for hydrogels in oral wound closure. We showed that Hydrogels represent promising bioadhesives in medical field and are undergoing continuous enhancement to expand their applications in wound closure. Although hydrogels have been utilized in various dental conditions, their potential for closing wounds in the oral cavity remains unexplored.

Inorganic-Nanomaterial-Composited Hydrogel Dressings for Wound Healing

Wound management heavily relies on the vital contribution of wound dressings, emphasizing the significance of finding an ideal dressing that can fulfill the intricate requirements of the wound healing process with multiple functions. A promising strategy is combining several materials and therapies to create multifunctional wound dressings. Nanocomposite hydrogel dressings based on nanomaterials, combining the advantages of nanomaterials and hydrogels in wound treatment, can significantly improve their respective performance and compensate for their shortcomings. A variety of nanocomposite wound dressings with diverse structures and synergistic functions have been developed in recent years, achieving ideal results in wound management applications. In this review, the multiple functions, advantages, and limitations of hydrogels as wound dressings are first discussed. Additionally, the application of inorganic nanomaterials in wound healing is also elaborated on. Furthermore, we focused on summarizing and analyzing nanocomposite hydrogel dressings for wound healing, which contain various inorganic nanomaterials, including metals, metal oxides, metal sulfides, carbon-based nanomaterials, and silicon-based nanoparticles. Finally, prospects for nanocomposite hydrogel wound dressings are envisaged, providing insights for further research in wound management.

Advanced Hydrogels Based Drug Delivery Systems for Ophthalmic Delivery.

Hydrogels are aqueous gels composed of cross-linked networks of hydrophilic polymers. Stimuli-responsive based hydrogels have gained focus over the past 20 years for treating ophthalmic diseases. Different stimuli-responsive mechanisms are involved in forming polymer hydrogel networks, including change in temperature, pH, ions, and others including light, thrombin, pressure, antigen, and glucose-responsive. Incorporation of nanocarriers with these smart stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems that can extend the duration of action by increasing ocular bioavailability and reducing the dosing frequency. This review will focus on the hydrogel drug delivery systems highlighting the gelling mechanisms and emerging stimuli-responsive hydrogels from preformed gels, nanogels, and the role of advanced 3D printed hydrogels in vision-threatening diseases like age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. It also provides insight into the limitations of hydrogels along with the safety and biocompatibility of the hydrogel drug delivery systems.