Fig. 3. Micromechanics of molded and UV laser micropatterned hydrogels.

(A-C) Brightfield images of (A) micromolded (MM) gelatin lines, (B) UV micropatterned (UV-M) lines, and (C) UV micropatterned square pillars (UV-µP). Scale is 50 µm. (D-F) Contact-mode AFM topography images in 3D for (D) MM gelatin, (E) UV-M gelatin, and (F) UV-µP gelatin in liquid over an area of 40 µm² with a Z-sensor height range of 5 µm. (G) Differences in maximum and minimum Z-sensor heights (ΔZ-sensor height) for MM, UV-M, and UV-µP gelatin (n = 6–13, 2–4 samples each). *P<0.05 compared to MM gelatin by Kruskal-Wallis One Way ANOVA (H) Box and whisker plot of elastic moduli of UN, MM, UV-M, and UV-µP where a minimum of n = 75 FDCs were used for each Z-level of the pattern. The red line represents the mean, black center line represents the median, and error bars represent the 5^th and 95^th percentile. *P<0.05 compared to UN gelatin by Kruskal-Wallis One Way ANOVA