Stimuli-responsive biomedical polymeric films for tissue regeneration

Tissue damage poses a significant burden on patients’ daily lives and has long driven the search for effective clinical treatments. Recent decades have witnessed the development of smart biomedical materials for satisfying specific requirements such as irregular shapes and dynamic microenvironments at defective sites. Stimuli-responsive polymeric films are well-positioned to play a considerable role in the exploitation of next-generation smart biomaterials for both soft and hard tissue regeneration. These polymeric films can be fabricated through diverse approaches and engineered with versatile structures and properties. Furthermore, responsive to stimuli such as temperature, water, and light, these films exhibit well-designed functions such as shape adaption, controlled drug release, and cell adhesion in vivo , effectively improving tissue regeneration. In this work, we review the recent advancements in stimuli-responsive biomedical polymeric films, beginning with the introduction of their fabrication methods. Subsequently, the stimuli-responsive mechanisms of the films are discussed and scrutinized in terms of structure and property variations. An overview of recent applications of stimuli-responsive films in tissue regeneration, including skin, cardiovascular, nerve, and bone regeneration, is provided. Finally, we further discuss the benefits and limitations of these smart films in practical applications, proposing our expectations and perspectives on future advancements of stimuli-responsive polymeric films.