ABSTRACT
I. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 13
II. Sources, Structures, and Properties ................................................................................. 13
III. Various Biomedical Applications .................................................................................... 15
A. Drug Delivery ........................................................................................................... 15
B. Microencapsulation .................................................................................................. 15
IV. Tissue Engineering Scaffolds ........................................................................................... 16
V. Controlled Gelation and Uniform Tissue Engineering Constructs ................................. 17
VI. Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 21
References ..................................................................................................................................... 21
Hydrogels are cross-linked hydrophilic polymers that contain large amounts of water without
dissolution. They are attractive candidates for certain tissue engineering applications because of
their capacity to fill irregularly shaped tissue defects, the allowance of minimally invasive
procedures such as arthroscopic surgeries, and the ease of incorporation of cells or bioactive
agents.
