Formulation of Hydrogels
Elastosens™ Bio Applications
Hydrogels have been widely used in the biomedical field for developing bioengineered tissues and novel treatments such as wound dressings and drug delivery systems. They are composed of over 90% water and crosslinked polymeric chains and exhibit a pronounced viscoelastic behavior. Collagen, gelatin, chitosan, alginate, fibrin, agarose, PEG, PLGA, PCL are among the most popular. The precise evaluation and control of their viscoelastic properties are often critical in terms of functionality and efficacy.
When hydrogels are used as 3D cell culture environments, their viscoelasticity plays an important role in the cell differentiation, proliferation and remodeling. Similarly, mastering the gel formation kinetics and its final viscoelasticity is crucial for manufacturing processes such as biocasting, 3D bioprinting and electrospinning. The mechanical properties of hydrogels during degradation is also of interest since it plays an important role in applications such as drug release and tissue engineering.
Applications on Formulation of Hydrogel
Microgels and hydrogel beads are increasingly used in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications due to their injectability, high surface-area-to-volume ratio, and modular size control. These small-scale hydrogels enable precise spatial delivery in controlled drug release, cell encapsulation, 3D bioprinting, and minimally invasive therapies.
Hydrogels are biomaterials that are widely studied in the biomedical field. They are used, for example, to produce contact lenses and wound dressings, for drug release systems, or as scaffolds for tissue engineering. The design of such hydrogels is often multidimensional since multiple parameters related to their chemical composition and physical properties affect how they are going to behave in vivo.
Alginate is a polysaccharide present as a structural component of algae and a capsular component of soil bacteria. The polysaccharide is typically obtained from brown seaweed and used in many industries such as medical, pharmaceutical, food, textile due to its viscosifying, gelling and stabilizing properties.
The field of regenerative medicine comprises different strategies to replace or restore diseased and damaged tissues and organs. It includes tissue-engineered products that rely on the combination of biomaterials, cells and inductive biomolecules to promote tissue and organ regeneration.
Mechanical Testing for Formulation of Hydrogels
ElastoSens™ Bio offers an extensive testing platform to formulate, compare, qualify and control the viscoelasticity of hydrogels used in multiple applications such as tissue engineering, 3D bioprinting, drug delivery and hemostatic applications. As the test is non-destructive and the gel is contained in a detachable sample holder, you can follow both short (crosslinking kinetics) and long-term (slow degradation or remodeling) evolutions of the same gel sample. In addition, the system has been designed to allow the application of specific external conditions: the sample can be tested in real time under controlled temperature, UV light and atmospheric inert gases, and exposed to physiological solutions.
Benefits of Contact-Free, Non-Invasive Measurements with the Elastosens™ Bio
- Test non-destructively the viscoelastic properties of bulk hydrogels, 3D bioprinted scaffolds and 3D cell-laden hydrogels.
- Apply programmable thermo and photo (UV) stimulations to deeply analyze your material.
- Follow the evolution of the same sample from formation to degradation non-destructively and over long periods of time.
- Get advanced and personalized Soft Matter Analytics™.
- Accelerate your formulation process while improving repeatability.
- Test bioengineered tissues in a cell-friendly and sterile environment.
- Operate a truly easy-to-use instrument designed for biologists, chemists and material scientists.
- Save time and material for R&D and QC operations.
- Customize your own testing system with up to 5 instruments thanks to the modularity of the ElastoSens™ Bio.
- Optimize your investments with affordable instruments that fit your needs and budget.