Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Microstereolithography is a microfabrication technique based on the light induced crosslinking \nof a prepolymer according to a computer based design. The technology emerged in \nthe 1980’s as a rapid prototyping technique for the fabrication of small parts and devices. The \ntechnique has evolved into an important research tool with a diverse range of applications \nranging from photonics to tissue engineering. \nTwo distinctly different branches of microstereolithography exist, differentiated by the \nfundamental mechanics involved. The first branch, based on the initiation of curing by the \ninteraction of one photon of light with an initiator is a surface based technique. The \nphotosensitised prepolymer or ‘resin’ is illuminated typically with ultraviolet light in order to \ncure the material within the first hundred micrometers of the surface and structures are \nconstructed in a layer-by-layer fashion. The second, more recently developed ‘branch’ of \nmicrostereolithography was developed in the last decade of the twentieth century (although \nthe underlying principles were predicted as early as the 1930’s). Multiphoton polymerization \nis a technique similar to multiphoton microscopy, in which two or more photons interact with \nthe photoinitiator within the lifetime of a virtual intermediate state, initiating curing. Due to \nthe low probability of this occurrence curing is only initiated in areas of very high photon \ndensity, achieved by focusing a laser beam through a high numerical aperture objective into \nthe resin. Photocuring then occurs in the central area of the focal point, within the volume of \nthe resin. \nThe aim of this thesis was to investigate the applications of this technology (both one and two \nphoton) in tissue engineering, for the fabrication of bespoke tissue scaffolds and other \nimplantable devices. Photocurable oligomers based on bioresorbable materials already in \nclinical use were also explored and their suitability for tissue engineering applications \ninvestigated, with a focus on structuring and biocompatibility.
Author: Andrew A. Gill
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1545389816