As a new formulation with great development prospect in recent years,functional gel is the thick liquid or semi-solid preparation in which the drug are made into solution,suspension or emulsion with the excipients.Functional gels,such as carrier gels and environmental sensitive gels,can be applied to different biomedical fields according to their functions.Compared with ordinary gels,functional gels have better stability,targeting,and high patient compliance.In this paper,the classification,matrix,preparation process and application of functional gel are reviewed,which will provide theoretical reference for further research of functional gel.