Recent Research on Medical Hydrogels (2nd Edition)

A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 1794

Special Issue Editors

Smart Polymeric Biomaterials—Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering @ Campus Group T Leuven, KU Leuven, Andreas Vesaliusstraat 13, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Interests: stimuli-responsive polymers; electrospinning; co-axial electrospinning; wound healing; tendon repair; alginate; biomaterials; controlled release; nanoparticles
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Guest Editor
Pharmaceutical and Therapeutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Iasi, 700028 Iasi, Romania
Interests: electrospinning; polymers; hydrogels; wound healing; nanotechnology
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Guest Editor
Materials Research Institute, Athlone Institute of Technology, N37 F6D7 Athlone, Westmeath, Ireland
Interests: organic chemistry; polymer chemistry; development of hydrogels for biomedical applications; development of novel drug delivery systems; nanomaterials; synthesis and characterisation of smart materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are grateful to all authors, reviewers, and readers for their responses to the first volume of our Special Issue. You can access and download these articles for free via “Recent Research on Medical Hydrogels”.

In addition, we would like to invite you to submit your work to the new Special Issue “Recent Research on Medical Hydrogels (2nd Edition)”.

This issue aims to display recent advances in hydrogel-related research, as well as its important contributions to healthcare applications. Hydrogels are medically regarded as a supportive matrix and, due to their distinctive properties, they can be used in various forms, such as gels, sheets, or scaffolds. They can also be implemented in various ways, such as being injected, processed into scaffolds, or administered orally or topically. Further research topics include the synthesis and characterization of hydrogels, as well as their different medical uses such as wound dressings for various types of wounds, diagnosis applications (sensors, functional coatings), tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. An important aspect when developing a new hydrogel material is to improve biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mechanical properties. On the other hand, hydrogels may be used, for example, as 3D scaffolds for cell culture and tissue regeneration by incorporating bioactive molecules or cells into the hydrogel matrix or by obtaining the hydrogels from decellularized extracellular matrices. Another advantage of hydrogels is that they can be designed as drug delivery systems suitable for controlled and targeted release. Also, they may be chosen in formulation studies to improve drug absorption because of their mucoadhesive and bioadhesive properties. Moreover, recent research also focused on the role of hydrogels in personalized disease modeling, which can be achieved by mimicking the physiological conditions of specific diseases.

Dr. Arn Mignon
Dr. Oana-Maria Chirliu
Prof. Dr. Clement Higginbotham
Guest Editors

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Gels 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 2100 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

  • hydrogels 
  • polymers 
  • wound healing 
  • tissue engineering 
  • biomedical applications

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 2687 KB  
Article
Interpretable Machine Learning Insights into Adhesion and Modulus of Biomedical HA–Dopamine Hydrogels
by Yuze Zhang, Yabei Xu, Yimin Shi and Daxin Liang
Gels 2026, 12(3), 206; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels12030206 - 28 Feb 2026
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Abstract
Hyaluronic acid–dopamine (HA-Dopa) hydrogels have emerged as promising adhesive biomaterials for biomedical applications. However, the complex dependencies between formulation parameters and hydrogel performance pose challenges for rational material design. In this study, an interpretable machine learning framework was developed to investigate the structure–property [...] Read more.
Hyaluronic acid–dopamine (HA-Dopa) hydrogels have emerged as promising adhesive biomaterials for biomedical applications. However, the complex dependencies between formulation parameters and hydrogel performance pose challenges for rational material design. In this study, an interpretable machine learning framework was developed to investigate the structure–property relationships of HA-Dopa hydrogels. A dataset comprising 228 data points was collected from 37 peer-reviewed publications, representing heterogeneous experimental conditions across different research groups, and gradient boosting regression models were established to predict adhesion strength and elastic modulus, achieving test R2 of 0.99 and 0.94, respectively, with stable performance across cross-validation splits. SHAP analysis revealed that HA molecular weight and dopamine substitution degree are the dominant factors governing adhesion, while mechanical properties exhibit more distributed dependence on multiple formulation parameters. The identified synergistic interactions between key features provide potential guidance for targeted formulation optimization. This work demonstrates the utility of interpretable machine learning in elucidating structure–property relationships and accelerating the development of functional hydrogels for biomedical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Medical Hydrogels (2nd Edition))
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Review

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37 pages, 2120 KB  
Review
Liposomal Nanosystems Versus Hydrogels in the Prevention and Treatment of Metabolic Diseases
by Mihaela-Carmen Eremia, Ramona-Daniela Pavaloiu, Fawzia Sha’at, Dana Maria Miu, Gabriela Savoiu and Anca Daniela Raiciu
Gels 2025, 11(11), 917; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11110917 - 16 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1019
Abstract
Liposomal nano-systems and hydrogels are two types of nano-technological systems that have promising applications in the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases (diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemias, and metabolic syndrome), which are a major public health concern worldwide. Advances in nanotechnology and biomaterials have enabled [...] Read more.
Liposomal nano-systems and hydrogels are two types of nano-technological systems that have promising applications in the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases (diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemias, and metabolic syndrome), which are a major public health concern worldwide. Advances in nanotechnology and biomaterials have enabled the development of new platforms for the controlled delivery of nutrients or bioactive compounds in order to solve these issues. This review compares the characteristics, advantages, and limitations of these two systems, with a focus on their applicability in the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Medical Hydrogels (2nd Edition))
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