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Figure 8. The major challenges of hydrogels, probable solutions and expected outcomes for the treatment of myocardial infarction

[62]
arterial disruption, and hemorrhage . Few of the materials have been modified with Ag NPs and drugs to
enhance the antibacterial activity of chitosan and other polymers [9,10] , but their application in stents has not
been tested. Various peptide and peptoid materials have shown promising antibacterial activity [16,63,64] and
can be incorporated in stent materials for PCI. Various surface-engineered drug delivery systems have been
[65]
explored with excellent antibacterial and drug-releasing properties . These approaches can be linked with
hydrogels to bring the multi-functionality of drug release, mechanical stiffness and cardiac tissue repairing
in stent materials. Target deficiency, i.e., the inability to be targeted at the site of action and biocompatibility
are the major issues in biomaterial research. Recently, the effects of amine, octyl and mixed groups for
surface modifications on protein attachment, orientation and cell adhesion have been scrutinized [66-68] .
This strategy may be implemented to modify the surfaces of the stents for better protein interaction,
biocompatibility and improved interfacial interactions as well. Interdisciplinary approaches may provide a
better solution for cardiac tissue repair and reduce the harmful after-effects of MI. The major challenges of
hydrogels, probable solutions and expected outcomes are depicted in Figure 8.

CONCLUSION
CTE is being extensively studied these days. Improper blood flow and damage to cardiac tissues are the
major causes of MI. The blockages in blood vessels are the major factors that lead to MI. Various surgical
and non-surgical studies have been performed to relieve the blockage in the coronary vessels, including
PCI. Soft polymeric materials are constructed in the form of hydrogels, which are molded for making
the stents to broaden the vessels for proper blood flow. Hydrogel-based materials have shown promising
ability to be used for PCI; however, lack of the required mechanical strength, bioactivity and enzymatic
degradation limits their practical applications. The controlled orientation of polymeric materials with
specific bioactivity along with controlled enzymatic degradation has been major challenges for biomaterial
researchers. There have been recent advances in the self-degrading hydrogel stents based on chitosan,
alginate, PEG and various other polymeric materials. These materials have shown promising results
at the laboratory scale to be utilized for PCI in the treatment of MI. Owing to their native properties,
these materials have overcome many of the lags in PCI; however, they lack multi-functionality. Hence,
interdisciplinary approaches to design a composite of these individual polymers blended with ECM
biomolecules are proposed to develop promising materials for hydrogel-based stents in the treatment of
MI.