Microengineered hydrogels for tissue engineering

Hydrogels have been extensively used in various biomedical applications such as drug delivery and biosensing. More recently the ability to engineer the size and shape of biologically relevant hydrogels has generated new opportunities in addressing challenges in tissue engineering such as vascularization, tissue architecture and cell seeding. Here, we discuss the use of microengineered hydrogels for tissue engineering applications. We will initially provide an overview of the various approaches that can be used to synthesize hydrogels with controlled features and will subsequently discuss the emerging applications of these hydrogels. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.