Laser-Based Micro- and Nanofabrication for Applications in Biomedicine

Lasers are increasingly used to generate functional implants. This includes surface structuring to promote or avoid cell adhesion, laser sintering of metals to yield specific mechanical strength and resilience, and laser-generation of microstructured scaffolds. In this study, two further laser-based techniques for fabrication of multifunctional materials and implants are presented. First, a laser-based method for printing living cells is described. This technique allows to cover implant surfaces with a patient-identic biological footprint or to generate tissue constructs with or without scaffolds. Second, a novel laser-based technique is presented for controlled synthesis of multifunctionalized nanoparticles and nanoparticle-embedded composite implants. It is shown that beside cell-targeting, additional functions can be rigorously combined on a nanoparticle surface allowing complex cellular manipulations. Finally, using as a model implant a thermoplastic catheter, embedded nanoparticles reveal antibacterial and cellular proliferative behaviors by changing the nature of composite materials, opening new strategies for laser-generated implants.