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Three‐dimensional cryogels for biomedical applications
Author(s) -
Razavi Mehdi,
Qiao Yang,
Thakor Avnesh S.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.36777
Subject(s) - materials science , self healing hydrogels , gelatin , ethylene glycol , fibroin , vinyl alcohol , agarose , gellan gum , chitosan , tissue engineering , methacrylate , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , biomedical engineering , copolymer , polymer , silk , polymer chemistry , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , medicine , food science , chromatography , engineering
Cryogels are a subset of hydrogels synthesized under sub‐zero temperatures: initially solvents undergo active freezing, which causes crystal formation, which is then followed by active melting to create interconnected supermacropores. Cryogels possess several attributes suited for their use as bioscaffolds, including physical resilience, bio‐adaptability, and a macroporous architecture. Furthermore, their structure facilitates cellular migration, tissue‐ingrowth, and diffusion of solutes, including nano‐ and micro‐particle trafficking, into its supermacropores. Currently, subsets of cryogels made from both natural biopolymers such as gelatin, collagen, laminin, chitosan, silk fibroin, and agarose and/or synthetic biopolymers such as hydroxyethyl methacrylate, poly‐vinyl alcohol, and poly(ethylene glycol) have been employed as 3D bioscaffolds. These cryogels have been used for different applications such as cartilage, bone, muscle, nerve, cardiovascular, and lung regeneration. Cryogels have also been used in wound healing, stem cell therapy, and diabetes cellular therapy. In this review, we summarize the synthesis protocol and properties of cryogels, evaluation techniques as well as current in vitro and in vivo cryogel applications. A discussion of the potential benefit of cryogels for future research and their application are also presented.