Alginate microspheres: Synthesis and their biomedical applications

Abstract

Natural polymers have been widely researched as vehicles for encapsulation and delivery of drugs and other bioactive compounds. Alginate, being one of the polysaccharides that can be found in abundance, has attracted attention as a drug delivery system for many biomedical applications. Its inherent outstanding properties such as biocompatibility, specific interactions with biomolecules, ability to tailor degradation rate, and mild gelation process along with its other outstanding properties have attracted tremendous attention. For biomedical applications, alginate microspheres (AMs) are used particularly in wound healing, drug delivery, and tissue engineering applications. This is attributed to its ability to retain water and its gelling, viscosifying, and stabilizing properties. This chapter provides an overview of the general properties of alginate, extraction methods of alginic acid, the methods to synthesize alginate microspheres and its biomedical applications for drug, cells, and proteins delivery systems, and its applications in tissue engineering.