TY  - EJOU
AU  - Wang, Xingdan 
AU  - Du, Yuheng 
AU  - Zhang, Xinyue 
AU  - Li, Yifei 
AU  - Liu, Renmeng 
AU  - Yang, Lei 
AU  - Ramsey, Edward 
AU  - Jiang, Zhongliang 

TI  - The Design, Fabrication and Miniaturization of Polymeric Hydrogels for Therapeutic Actions
T2  - Journal of Polymer Materials

PY  - 
VL  - 
IS  - 
SN  - 0976-3449

AB  - 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.
KW  - Polymeric hydrogels; biomaterials; fabrication methods; miniaturization; therapeutic actions; microgels; microfluidics; drug delivery systems

DO  - 10.32604/jpm.2026.080578