Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
is nonbiodegradability. Future work using PNiPAAm as an
in situ
-
forming gel scaffold is directed into further focusing on biodegrad-
abilityto improve itspotential in tissue engineering.
7.4 Conclusions and Outlook
Withtherapidprogressinregenerativemedicine,thelargerdemand
for scaffolds in tissue engineering is increasing. Research in the
area of development of
in situ
-forming hydrogel scaffolds for tissue
engineering has been well established in the past years. Typically,
because aqueous solutions of
in situ
-forming hydrogel materials
handled in this chapter are liquid at ambient temperature, they can
easily incorporate various cells and/or biological factors by simple
mixing. In addition, they offer the advantage of avoiding surgical
procedures for application in regenerative medicine, because cells
or biological factors are thus able to be
in situ
entrapped simply by
injectionoftheiraqueoussolutionsattargetsiteswithminimalinva-
siveness. Recently,
in situ
-forming hydrogel scaffolds are focusing
on biocompatibility, biodegradability, easy handling, and mechani-
calintegrityduring
in vivo
applicationandfinallyfacilitatingpatient
compliance and quality of lifeviacomfort.
It is likely that
in situ
-forming hydrogel scaffolds can fulfill the
requirements for specific applications in the future. Although much
progress has been made in the fundamental research of
in situ
-
forming hydrogel scaffolds, the various biomaterials will undoubt-
edly make
in situ
-forming hydrogel scaffolds an important topic in
bothchemistry and material sciences in the nextdecade.
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