Open Access

REVIEW

The Design, Fabrication and Miniaturization of Polymeric Hydrogels for Therapeutic Actions

Xingdan Wang^1,#, Yuheng Du^1,#, Xinyue Zhang¹, Yifei Li¹, Renmeng Liu¹, Lei Yang¹, Edward Ramsey², Zhongliang Jiang^1,*
1 School of Chemical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan, China
2 Sustainable Technology Research Centre, University of Science and Technology Liaoning, Anshan, China
* Corresponding Author: Zhongliang Jiang. Email:
# These authors contributed equality to this work
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Polymer Materials for Tissue Engineering and Cell Encapsulation)

Journal of Polymer Materials https://doi.org/10.32604/jpm.2026.080578

Received 12 February 2026; Accepted 21 April 2026; Published online 25 May 2026

Abstract

Polymeric hydrogels are three-dimensional hydrophilic macromolecular networks capable of retaining varying amounts of water, similar to the extracellular matrix (ECM). To effectively translate these materials into therapeutic actions, it is of importance to control their molecular design, structural architecture, and physical dimensions, ensuring that these factors are strictly optimized to meet the demands of therapeutic applications. Existing reviews mainly focus on specific hydrogel aspects, but there is a gap in translating hydrogel miniaturization into therapeutic potential. This review highlights developments in hydrogel miniaturization, focusing on microfluidic strategies for precise microgel control. Miniaturized hydrogels improve cell-material interactions, making them ideal for targeted drug delivery and regenerative medicine. By connecting these multiscale design and fabrication strategies with therapeutic performance, this review provides a more comprehensive framework for understanding how polymeric hydrogels can be engineered for biomedical applications. It also discusses challenges in the clinical translation of functionalized hydrogel systems and their future potential.

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Keywords

Polymeric hydrogels; biomaterials; fabrication methods; miniaturization; therapeutic actions; microgels; microfluidics; drug delivery systems

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