Innovative hydrogels in cutaneous wound healing: current status and future perspectives

Abstract

Chronic wounds pose a substantial burden on healthcare systems, necessitating innovative tissue engineering strategies to enhance clinical outcomes. Hydrogels, both of natural and synthetic origin, have emerged as versatile biomaterials for wound management due to their structural adaptability, biocompatibility, and tunable physicochemical properties. Their hydrophilic nature enables efficient nutrient transport, waste removal, and cellular integration, while their malleability facilitates application to deep and irregular wounds, providing an optimal microenvironment for cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. Extracellular matrix (ECM)- based hydrogels retain bioactive molecules that support cellular infiltration, immune modulation, and tissue remodelling, making them highly effective scaffolds for growth factor delivery and regenerative therapies. Additionally, their injectability and potential for in situ polymerization enable minimally invasive applications, allowing on-demand gelation at target sites. By modifying their mechanical properties through crosslinking, hydrogels can achieve enhanced structural stability, prolonged degradation control, and improved surgical handling, optimizing their functionality in dynamic wound environments. This review outlines current approaches to skin tissue engineering, examining the biomaterials employed in hydrogel design, their limitations, and their interactions with host tissues. Furthermore, it highlights the emerging potential of functionalized injectable hydrogels, particularly those engineered for controlled drug release, enhanced bioactivity, and patient-specific therapeutic applications. These hydrogels offer a transformative platform for advanced wound care and regenerative medicine.

Keywords: biomaterials; chronic wounds; extracellular matrix; injectable hydrogels; polymers; wound healing.

FIGURE 1

Diagram showing an overview of the predominant applications of hydrogels and the possible biomolecules that can be incorporated to alter their characteristics.

FIGURE 2

Characterisation of hydrogels for healthcare application.

FIGURE 3

Schematic representation of hydrogel formation, highlighting covalent crosslinking for direct gelation or mechanical reinforcement of physically cross-linked hydrogels with tuneable properties.

FIGURE 4

In vitro applications of biomimetic ECM-derived hydrogels.

FIGURE 5

Schematic summary of hydrogel advantages and applications. The enhanced biocompatibility of acellular hydrogels expands their potential for diverse biomedical uses.