Abstract
We demonstrate high-resolution photocross-linking of biodegradable poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF) and diethyl fumarate (DEF) using UV excimer laser photocuring at 308 nm. The curing depth can be tuned in a micrometre range by adjusting the total energy dose (total fluence). Young's moduli of the scaffolds are found to be a few gigapascal, high enough to support bone formation. The results presented here demonstrate that the proposed technique is an excellent tool for the fabrication of stiff and biocompatible structures on a micrometre scale with defined patterns of high resolution in all three spatial dimensions. Using UV laser photocuring at 308 nm will significantly improve the speed of rapid prototyping of biocompatible and biodegradable polymer scaffolds and enables its production in a few seconds, providing high lateral and horizontal resolution. This short timescale is indeed a tremendous asset that will enable a more efficient translation of technology to clinical applications. Preliminary cell tests proved that PPF : DEF scaffolds produced by excimer laser photocuring are biocompatible and, therefore, are promising candidates to be applied in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Highlights
Owing to the immense research activity being devoted to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine [1 – 5], biomaterials used as scaffolds are expected to satisfy the emerging needs of rapidly reproducible platforms for increased clinical and research applications
We report the development of a simple method to produce rigid biodegradable photopolymer scaffolds using excimer laser photocuring at 308 nm, that results in a curing depth tunable up to 100 micrometres which enables the production of structures with higher aspect ratios
This way, an array of pillars corresponding to a specific combination of laser pulse fluence and number of pulses resulting in a total fluence (Ft 1⁄4 fluence per pulse (Fp) Â number of laser pulses (Np)) were produced and analysed
Summary
Owing to the immense research activity being devoted to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine [1 – 5], biomaterials used as scaffolds are expected to satisfy the emerging needs of rapidly reproducible platforms for increased clinical and research applications. Excimer-laser-based projection photocuring [18] of liquid resins is a very promising method to increase production efficiency in SL. This is due to the high-power and well-shaped beams delivered by excimer lasers, which have no rivals in terms of industrial reliability among all other high-power UV-light sources, as demonstrated by their intense use over the decades in the semiconductor industry. We report the development of a simple method to produce rigid biodegradable photopolymer scaffolds using excimer laser photocuring at 308 nm, that results in a curing depth tunable up to 100 micrometres which enables the production of structures with higher aspect ratios. Cell adhesion and viability are demonstrated, indicating that the produced scaffolds are suitable for assisting bone cell attachment and proliferation
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