Prospects of injectable hydrogels for bone tissue engineering applications

In recent years, biomaterial-based tissue engineering approaches have efficiently treated bone defects caused by extensive trauma, fractures, and diseases. The repair and restoration of normal function of such defective bone tissues is a prominent global clinical demand. Among the biomaterial scaffolds used in TE, injectable hydrogels have gained tremendous potential in bone tissue engineering (BTE) due to their favorable properties like high water content, biomimicking with natural extracellular matrix, controlled mechanical properties, minimal invasiveness, and ability to match irregular defects. The present review focuses on preparing injectable hydrogels, their types, properties, and applications, with special emphasis on BTE. Further, the synergistic effect of hydrogels with other biomaterials and cell-encapsulated hydrogels for BTE has been discussed. A final deliberation has been made to emphasize the prospects of injectable hydrogels and their implementation for critical defects.