Multiphoton Processing Technologies for Applications in Biology and Tissue Engineering

The subject of this presentation is a group of microfabrication technologies utilizing photochemistry induced by multiphoton absorption of ultra-short laser pulses. Despite the fact that all of these methods employ essentially identical equipment, most prominent example is the two-photon polymerization technique (2PP). The 2PP is also referred to as two-photon-absorbed photopolymerization, two-photoninduced polymerization, two-photon lithography, two-photon laser scanning lithography, multiphoton-excited microfabrication, nonlinear lithography 3D multiphoton lithography, 3D laser lithography or simply direct laser writing [1]. The development of multiphoton processing technologies showed considerable advances, especially within the last decade. Their recent applications in cell biology and tissue engineering indicate the emergence of a new technology platform in response to an urgent need for customized cell microenvironments mimicking the complexity of the natural extra-cellular matrix. Fabrication of 2D microstructured substrates, complex 3D scaffolds, containing actively induced topographies, and immobilization of biomolecules in a spatially defined manner was demonstrated with these techniques. The reviewed reports demonstrate that the multiphoton processing methods can be used to study a wide variety of relevant biological questions. Fabrication of complex 3D constructs in accordance to a computer-aided design model offers a true engineering dimension to designing of cell-culture matrices [2-3].
[1] A. Ovsianikov, V. Mironov, J. Stampf, and R. Liska, Engineering 3D cell-culture matrices: multiphoton processing technologies for biological and tissue engineering applications, Expert Rev. Med. Devices 9(6), 613–633 (2012) [doi:10.1586/erd.12.48]
[2] J. Torgersen, X.-H. Qin, Z. Li, A. Ovsianikov, R. Liska, and J. Stampfl, Hydrogels for Two-Photon Polymerization: A Toolbox for Mimicking the Extracellular Matrix, Adv. Funct. Mater. 23(36), 4542–4554 (2013) [doi:10.1002/adfm.201203880].
[3] A. Ovsianikov, S. Mühleder, J. Torgersen, Z. Li, X.-H. Qin, S. Van Vlierberghe, P. Dubruel, W. Holnthoner, H. Redl, R. Liska, and J. Stampfl, Laser Photofabrication of Cell-Containing Hydrogel Constructs, Langmuir, 131010115717001 (2013) [doi:10.1021/la402346z].