Biopolymers as Wound Healing Materials: Challenges and New Strategies

Wound healing is a multi-factorial physiological process. The complexity of this phenomenon makes it prone to several abnormalities. Apart from cellular and biochemical components, several enzymatic pathways also become active during repair and help the tissue to heal. The goal of this chapter is to introduce the biomaterials community to the emerging field of self-healing materials, and also to suggest how one could utilize and modify self-healing approaches to develop new classes of biomaterials. On the other hand, natural and synthetic gel-like materials, films/membranes, composites, micro/nanoparticulate systems have featured heavily in the development of biomaterials for wound healing and other tissue-engineering purposes. Nanofibrous membranes are highly soft materials with high surface-to-volume ratios, and therefore can serve as excellent carriers for therapeutic agents or accelerate wound healing. Biocompatible and biodegradable polymer scaffolds combined with cells or biological signals are being investigated as alternatives to traditional options for tissue reconstruction and transplantation. These approaches are already in clinical use as engineered tissues that enhance wound healing and skin regeneration. This chapter covers the recent reports on the preparation and biomedical applications of biopolymers and biomaterials based on pharmaceutical dosage forms and wound dressing.