Volume 17, Issue 30 2006335
Review

Hydrogels as Emerging Materials for Cornea Wound Healing

Sadjad Khosravimelal

Sadjad Khosravimelal

Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Allied Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1449614535 Iran

Cellular and Molecular Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1449614535 Iran

Department of Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1449614535 Iran

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Mohammadmahdi Mobaraki

Mohammadmahdi Mobaraki

Department of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, 1591634311 Iran

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Samane Eftekhari

Samane Eftekhari

Department of Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Allied Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1449614535 Iran

Cellular and Molecular Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1449614535 Iran

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Mark Ahearne

Mark Ahearne

Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin, Dublin, D02 R590 Republic of Ireland

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Alexander Marcus Seifalian

Corresponding Author

Alexander Marcus Seifalian

Nanotechnology & Regenerative Medicine Commercialization Centre (NanoRegMed Ltd), London BioScience Innovation Centre, London, NW1 0NH UK

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

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Mazaher Gholipourmalekabadi

Corresponding Author

Mazaher Gholipourmalekabadi

Cellular and Molecular Research Centre, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1449614535 Iran

Department of Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1449614535 Iran

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

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First published: 22 April 2021
Citations: 31

Abstract

Hydrogel biomaterials have many favorable characteristics including tuneable mechanical behavior, cytocompatibility, optical properties suitable for regeneration and restoration of the damaged cornea tissue. The cornea is a tissue susceptible to various injuries and traumas with a complicated healing cascade, in which conserving its transparency and integrity is critical. Accordingly, the hydrogels’ known properties along with the stimulation of nerve and cell regeneration make them ideal scaffold for corneal tissue engineering. Hydrogels have been used extensively in clinical applications for the repair and replacement of diseased organs. The development and optimizing of novel hydrogels to repair/replace corneal injuries have been the main focus of researches within the last decade. This research aims to critically review in vitro, preclinical, as well as clinical trial studies related to corneal wound healing using hydrogels in the past 10 years, as this is considered as an emerging technology for corneal treatment. Several unique modifications of hydrogels with smart behaviors have undergone early phase clinical trials and showed promising outcomes. Financially, this considers a multibillion dollars industry and with huge interest from medical devices as well as pharmaceutical industries with several products may emerge within the next five years.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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