Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Bioengineering (ISSN 2306-5354). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomedical Engineering and Biomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 1167

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Pediatric Department, School of Medicine, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
Interests: tissue engineering; biomaterials; 3D printing; wound healing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the second edition of the previous release “Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/bioengineering/special_issues/hydrogel_bio_app).

Regenerative medicine holds promise in combatting the ever-increasing demand for organs through a tissue engineering approach. Various biocompatible materials have been explored as tissue scaffolds or therapeutic delivery systems for tissue regeneration. Among these materials, hydrogels received special attention due to their innate structural and compositional similarities to the extracellular matrix, which promotes better cellular attachment, proliferation, and eventually results in faster tissue regeneration. Hydrogels also have unique properties, including the ability to retain a high water content, maintain a porous structure, and adapt to the tissue environment under interchangeable sol–gel conditions. Hydrogels with widely different chemical and physical properties have been developed over the years, utilizing a variety of techniques for biomedical applications, such as ophthalmology, tissue engineering and drug delivery.

This Special Issue will present groundbreaking research related to hydrogels and their most relevant applications in biomedicine and aims to highlight the current and future state of biomedical hydrogel research. We hope that the Special Issue will bring new insights to the scientific community in this ever-expanding research field.

Dr. Pallabi Pal
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Bioengineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • drug delivery systems
  • surface modified biomaterials
  • self-healing hydrogels
  • thermoresponsive hydrogels
  • injectable hydrogels
  • tissue regeneration
  • 3D printing
  • bioactive hydrogels

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Other

8 pages, 662 KiB  
Brief Report
Microwave-Assisted Optimization of Polyvinyl Alcohol Cryogel (PVA-C) Manufacturing for MRI Phantom Production
by Ivan Vogt, Martin Volk, Emma-Luise Kulzer, Janis Seibt, Maciej Pech, Georg Rose and Oliver S. Grosser
Bioengineering 2025, 12(2), 171; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering12020171 - 10 Feb 2025
Viewed by 714
Abstract
Objectives: Anthropomorphic phantoms offer a promising solution to minimize animal testing, enable medical training, and support the efficient development of medical devices. The adjustable mechanical, biochemical, and imaging properties of the polyvinyl alcohol cryogel (PVA-C) make it an appropriate phantom material for mimicking [...] Read more.
Objectives: Anthropomorphic phantoms offer a promising solution to minimize animal testing, enable medical training, and support the efficient development of medical devices. The adjustable mechanical, biochemical, and imaging properties of the polyvinyl alcohol cryogel (PVA-C) make it an appropriate phantom material for mimicking soft tissues. Conventional manufacturing (CM) of aqueous solutions requires constant stirring, using a heated water bath, and monitoring. Methods: To explore potential improvements in the dissolution of PVA crystals in water, a microwave-based manufacturing method (MWM) was employed. Samples created using CM and MWM (n = 14 each) were compared. Because PVA-C is a multifunctional phantom material (e.g., in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)), its MRI properties (T1/T2 relaxation times) and elasticity were determined. Results: T1 relaxation times did not significantly differ between the two methods (p = 0.3577), whereas T2 and elasticity for the MWM were significantly higher than those for the CM (p < 0.001). The MWM reduced the production time by 11% and decreased active user involvement by 93%. Conclusions: The MWM offers a promising, easily implementable, and time-efficient method for manufacturing PVA-C-based phantoms. Nevertheless, manufacturing-related microstructural properties and sample molding require further study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications, 2nd Edition)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop