Femtosecond laser micro-machined polyimide films for cell scaffold applications

Engineering of sophisticated synthetic 3D scaffolds that allow controlling behaviour and location of the cells requires advanced micro/nano-fabrication techniques. Ultrafast laser micro-machining employing a 1030-nm wavelength Yb:KGW femtosecond laser and a micro-fabrication workstation for micro-machining of commercially available 12.7 and 25.4 μm thickness polyimide (PI) film was applied. Mechanical properties of the fabricated scaffolds, i.e. arrays of differently spaced holes, were examined via custom-built uniaxial micro-tensile testing and finite element method simulations. We demonstrate that experimental micro-tensile testing results could be numerically simulated and explained by two-material model, assuming that 2-6 μm width rings around the holes possessed up to five times higher Young's modulus and yield stress compared with the rest of the laser intacted PI film areas of 'dog-bone'-shaped specimens. That was attributed to material modification around the micro-machined holes in the vicinity of the position of the focused laser beam track during trepanning drilling. We demonstrate that virgin PI films provide a suitable environment for the mobility, proliferation and intercellular communication of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, and discuss how cell behaviour varies on the micro-machined PI films with holes of different diameters (3.1, 8.4 and 16.7 μm) and hole spacing (30, 35, 40 and 45 μm). We conclude that the holes of 3.1 μm diameter were sufficient for metabolic and genetic communication through membranous tunneling tubes between cells residing on the opposite sides of PI film, but prevented the trans-migration of cells through the holes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.