Hydrogel - based biopolymers for regenerative medicine applications: a critical review

There is need to advance the field of regenerative medicine through a comprehensive analysis of common biomaterials application. Since lots of studies on tissue engineering, drug delivery and wounds dressing have been reported in the literature, the need to analyze these studies and provide directions for future research, makes a review imperative. The use of chitosan, gelatin and polyvinyl alcohol for the applications have been analyzed in this review. Previous and current research on the application of these biopolymers in growth factor delivery, cancer therapy, cartilage constructs/regeneration, bone cell responses and others been reviewed. Also, different examples of physical and chemical crosslinks have been presented.

Automated summary

This review analyzes the applications of common biomaterials in the field of regenerative medicine, specifically chitosan, gelatin, and polyvinyl alcohol. It reviews previous and current research on their use in growth factor delivery, cancer therapy, cartilage constructs/regeneration, bone cell responses, and other areas. It also presents examples of different physical and chemical crosslinks.