Visualization of Entangled Hydrogel Granules for Injectable Gel Therapies

Abstract

Injectable hydrogels show promise for minimally invasive medical treatments, but current granular hydrogels often disintegrate post-injection, limiting their clinical effectiveness. Novel entangled U-shaped granule hydrogels have been developed to address this challenge, potentially enhancing applications in cell behavior modulation, drug delivery, and non-invasive surgery. However, to optimize these gels for specific medical uses, a method to visualize and quantify their 3D microstructure is needed. This project aims to develop a software tool that produces 3D reconstructions of these hydrogels and quantifies key characteristics such as void fraction, pore size distribution, and number of entanglements.