Laser light as a quick-change artist

They have long been at the top of the doctors‘ wish list: tissue implants which allow complete regeneration. This is because damaged or destroyed tissue often cannot be regenerated by the body itself and there is frequently a lack of suitable implant tissue.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT have now developed a special laser technique which can be used to generate biomimetic hybrid structures. These can be established to replace natural tissue after injuries or illness. The body‘s own regeneration process is based on the patient‘s own cells.

The main problem facing tissue engineering to date is that it is difficult to predict how the cells will react to the three-dimensional environment to which they are introduced. So in collaboration with other institutes, the ILT researchers sought to create a way of generating biometric support structures where cells can ideally settle and grow. To this end, the Aachen-based scientists transferred Rapid Prototyping to the body‘s own materials. They combine separated proteins and polymers which are selectively exposed to laser light and thereby interlinked as a result of the photolytic effect.

Laser pulses within the picosecond range induce so-called multi-photon processes which result in volume polymerization. The extremely short pulse cycles ensure that the material does not suffer damage from overheating.
„This allows us to create support structures for cell groups with a resolution of approximately one micrometer directly from separated proteins and polymers – precisely according to our construction plan,“ says ILT Project Director Sascha Engelhardt enthusiastically.

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