Laser processing of organic materials: Applications in tissue engineering and chemical sensing

The production of micron-scale architectures is a major demand in several new fields in the biomedical and sensing area. In particular, engineering different materials can produce cell templates, allowing the analyses of cell adhesion and growth, cell-cell interactions, or cell clustering. In addition, the capability to spatially control the deposition of soft materials i.e. polymers onto different types of substrates is important for the development of sensors and biosensors. In this work, the application of laser methods i.e. laser direct-writing (LDW), matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE), and laser induced forward transfer (LIFT) for obtaining controlled sized designs or thin films from a variety of soft materials is shown. Organically modified silicates (ORMOSILS) have been investigated in order to obtain polymeric structures designed by LDW that would be further used as scaffolds for tissue engineering. Collagen has been deposited by MAPLE as a thin layer, proving the feasibility of MAPLE for the fabrication of implant materials or matrices. Finally, LIFT has been applied for the transfer of polymers aiming application in toxic gas sensors.