Figure 1.

Laser based approaches to produce bioscaffolds. The photo-polymerization/ablation of polymers has permitted the production of complex polymeric structures which can be used as bioscaffolds. Hydrogels are produced from monomers (blue curves) by crosslinking of reactive groups (green lines). Neuronal cells can be seeded within or on the scaffolds prior or post-processing. Homogenous hydrogels (light blue circles) can be obtained by bulk photo-polymerization of the suspension. Then, physical channels (white rectangles) can be generated in the pre-formed gels by photo-ablation, in order to set out the path directing neurite elongation. Instead selected volumes (light blue rectangles) of the gel suspension can be photo-polymerized with the use of a focused laser or photo-masks. Biochemical properties can be further introduced by photo-patterning of peptides (purple triangles) and/or whole proteins (yellow stars), with function of grow factors, adhesion cues, enzymes, and so on.