Laser-Micro/Nanofabricated 3D Polymers for Tissue Engineering Applications

A multi-photon polymerization system has been designed based on a pulsed irradiation light source (diode-pumped solid state femtosecond laser Yb:KGW, 300 fs, 1030 nm, 1-200 kHz) in combination with large working area and high precision linear motor driven stages (100×100×50 mm³). The system is intended for high resolution and throughput 3D micro- and nanofabrication and enables manufacturing the polymeric templates up to 1 cm² areas with sub-micrometer resolution. These can be used for producing 3D artificial polymeric scaffolds to be applied for growing cells, specifically, in the tissue engineering. The bio-compatibility of different acrylate, hybrid organic-inorganic and biodegradable polymeric materials is evaluated experimentally in vitro. Variously sized and shaped polymeric scaffolds of biocompatible photopolymers with intricate 3D geometry were successfully fabricated. Proliferation tests for adult rabbit myogenic stem cells have shown the applicability of artificial scaffolds in biomedicine practice.