Biomedical applications of magnetic hydrogels

Abstract

Hydrogels are used in biomedical applications thanks to their high-water content, porosity, and their ability to easily modify their properties (mechanical, chemical, microstructure, etc.). Hydrogels are the materials that most resemble the extracellular matrix of mammals. In recent years, magnetic hydrogels have become especially important. These are the result of combining magnetic nanoparticles with different hydrogel matrices. Among its properties, they have the ability to be remotely controlled modifying their physical properties, such as stability, stiffness and temperature (magnetic hyperthermia). Such unique characteristics make magnetic hydrogels very promising in biomedical applications such as, tissue engineering, drug delivery, biosensors, and cancer therapy. At this respect, this chapter focuses on the main biomedical applications of magnetic hydrogels and the most important discoveries on the subject.