Enhancing regenerative medicine with self-healing hydrogels: A solution for tissue repair and advanced cyborganic healthcare devices

• Published in: Biomaterials advances Vol. 161; p. 213869
• Main Authors: Eufrásio-da-Silva, Tatiane, Erezuma, Itsasne, Dolatshahi-Pirouz, Alireza, Orive, Gorka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands 01.07.2024
• Subjects: Animals; Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Humans; Hydrogels - chemistry; Hydrogels - pharmacology; Regenerative Medicine - methods; Tissue Engineering - methods; Wound Healing - drug effects
• ISSN: 2772-9508; 2772-9508
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2024.213869

Considering the global burden related to tissue and organ injuries or failures, self-healing hydrogels may be an attractive therapeutic alternative for the future. Self-healing hydrogels are highly hydrated 3D structures with the ability to self-heal after breaking, this property is attributable to a variety of dynamic non-covalent and covalent bonds that are able to re-linking within the matrix. Self-healing ability specially benefits minimal invasive medical treatments with cell-delivery support. Moreover, those tissue-engineered self-healing hydrogels network have demonstrated effectiveness for myriad purposes; for instance, they could act as delivery-platforms for different cargos (drugs, growth factors, cells, among others) in tissues such as bone, cartilage, nerve or skin. Besides, self-healing hydrogels have currently found their way into new and novel applications; for example, with the development of the self-healing adhesive hydrogels, by merely aiding surgical closing processes and by providing biomaterial-tissue adhesion. Furthermore, conductive hydrogels permit the stimuli and monitoring of natural electrical signals, which facilitated a better fitting of hydrogels in native tissue or the diagnosis of various health diseases. Lastly, self-healing hydrogels could be part of cyborganics - a merge between biology and machinery - which can pave the way to a finer healthcare devices for diagnostics and precision therapies.