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Hydrogels are the most iconic class of soft materials, and since their first report in the literature, they have attracted the attention of uncountable researchers. Over the past two decades, hydrogels have become smart and sophisticated materials with numerous applications. This class of soft materials have been playing a significant role in biomedicine due to their tunable and often programmable properties. Hydrogels from renewable polymers have been popularized in biomedical applications as they are often biocompatible, easily accessible, and inexpensive. The challenge however has been to find an ideal plant-based hydrogel for biomedicine that can mimic critical properties of human tissues in terms of structure, function, and performance. In addition, natural polymers can readily be functionalized to engineer their chemical and physical uproperties pertinent to drug delivery and tissue engineering. Here, the most recent advances in the synthesis, fabrication, and applications of plant-based hydrogels in biomedical engineering are reviewed. We cover essential and updated information about plants as green sources of biopolymers for hydrogel synthesis, general aspects of hydrogels and plant-based hydrogels, and thorough discussion regarding the use of such hydrogels in the biomedical engineering area. Furthermore, this review details the present status of the field and answers several important questions about the potential of plant-based hydrogels in advanced biomedical applications including therapeutics, tissue engineering, wound dressing, and diagnostics. , etc. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We describe, for the first time, stimuli-responsive hydrogel-forming microneedle (MN) arrays that enable delivery of a clinically-relevant model drug (ibuprofen) upon application of light. MN arrays were prepared using a polymer prepared from 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) by micromolding. The obtained MN arrays showed good mechanical properties. The system was loaded with up to 5% (w/w) ibuprofen included in a light-responsive 3,5-dimethoxybenzoin conjugate. Raman spectroscopy confirmed the presence of the conjugate inside the polymeric MN matrix. In vitro, this system was able to deliver up to three doses of 50 mg of ibuprofen upon application of an optical trigger over a prolonged period of time (up to 160 hours). This makes the system appealing as a controlled release device for prolonged periods of time. We believe that this technology has potential for use in “on-demand” delivery of a wide range of drugs in a variety of applications relevant to enhanced patient care.