Fig. 9.

The potential application of injectable hydrogels in stroke treatment. (a) injecting bio functional hydrogels into infarcted areas can induce endogenous repair mechanisms, such as angiogenesis and neurogenesis. (b) injectable hydrogel can be used as a cell delivery carrier to provide a three-dimensional environment in the infarcted area. Then, coated exogenous cells can release therapeutic nutrients to the surrounding environment to help regeneration. (c) injectable hydrogel can be used as a reservoir for drug/biological agents in the infarct area for controlled and sustained administration. The goal of promoting regeneration includes increasing neural precursor cell migration from the SVZ, reducing inflammation and attenuating the immune response. (d) It may also be a dual function method to combine the delivery of exogenous cells and drug/biological agents. Reprinted with permission from Ref. [254]. Copyright 2019 ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY.