Micro-patterned atmospheric pressure plasma‐deposited cell non-adhesive coatings

Abstract

Low temperature atmospheric pressure plasma deposited thin films in micro patterning technique for cell culturing represent a new field of plasma surface engineering for biological applications. It is necessary because of a trend toward the miniaturization of the detailed structures of tissue culture scaffolds. Plasma deposition at atmospheric pressure allows the cell to be micro-patterned onto a cell-adhesive surface. The adhesion-resistance of the thin films deposited at atmospheric pressure was tested with 3T3 mouse fibroblasts. The 3T3 mouse fibroblasts were successfully confined into circular, 100μm2 cell-adhesive areas that were patterned inside a cell-resistant layer. This atmospheric pressure plasma technique can be used to coat heat-sensitive bio-polymeric materials. The experimentally measured gas phase temperature was approximately 30°C to 90°C, which indicates that this atmospheric pressure plasma can treat polymers without unfavorable thermal effects. The simplicity of plasma process at atmospheric pressure and the versatility of the plasma deposited thin films render this technique highly suitable for the fabrication of biomedical and biological devices, where patterned, high contrast surfaces that are resistant to cell-adhesion are needed.