JE Roldan-HYDROGELS Introduction and Applications in Biology.pptVIP

HYDROGELS: Introduction and Applications in Biology and Engineering Jorge E. Roldan Louisiana Tech University Dept. of Biological Sciences June 25, 2003 OVERVIEW What are Hydrogels? Introduction Applications Types Properties Advantages and Disadvantages Why Hydrogels? Tissue engineering Cell Culture Systems Drug delivery Scaffolds Conclusion What are Hydrogels? Water-swollen, crosslinked polymeric structure produced by reactions of monomers or by hydrogen bonding Hydrophilic polymers that can absorb up to thousands of times their dry weight in H2O Three-dimensional insoluble polymer