Document Type : Review Article
Authors
1
polymer engineering‎ , Engineering department, Faculty of medical engineering, Meybod university, Yazd, ‎Iran
2
‎ medical engineering, Engineering department, Faculty of medical engineering, Meybod university, Yazd, ‎Iran.‎
3
medical engineering, Engineering department, Faculty of medical engineering, Meybod university, Yazd, ‎Iran.‎
Abstract
Thermogels, having unique sol-gel phase transition properties, have recently received much attention. These types of hydrogels show a phase transition when exposed to temperature changes. This feature is the key to the application of thermogels in medicine. The thermogelling behavior is the result of a combination of multiple heat response mechanisms. These mechanisms include the behavior of the lowest critical temperature of the solution, micellization and micellar aggregation of thermogel-forming polymers. Thermogels have wide applications in medical engineering and especially in tissue engineering. Injectability is one of the most important properties of thermogels for use in tissue engineering, which induces high compatibility, easy loading of cells and growth factors, and help in tissue regeneration to these hydrogels. In recent years, the use of thermogels in drug delivery and the study of thermogel drug delivery systems have become very common. Thermogels can deliver the drug to the desired location in a targeted manner and increase the life of the drug by protecting the drug in the body. Thermogels have also been considered as a suitable cell culture medium in various researches due to their three-dimensional porous structure. In addition, these materials have been used as self-cleaning membranes due to their ability to reduce fibrous encapsulation and facilitate analyte diffusion in biosensors. In this article, an attempt was made to review the research conducted in the field of functional mechanisms of thermogels and the progress achieved in this field. In the following, with a practical attitude, the research conducted in the field of using thermogels in medical engineering, such as use in drug delivery, tissue engineering, 3D culture of cells/stem cells, and membranes and sensors, was examined.
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