Modulation of osteoblast cell response through laser surface processing of nylon 6,6

With an ageing population demand on medical facilities is growing, especially for bio-implants. Therefore, there is a need for cheaper, more efficient implants. This paper details how CO₂ and KrF excimer lasers can be employed to modulate osteoblast cell growth on nylon 6,6 in relation to laser-modified wettability characteristics. Through patterning the contact angle, θ, increased by up to 19°, indicating the presence of a mixed state wetting regime; whereas θ decreased by up to 20° for the whole area irradiative processed samples. After 24 hours and 4 days incubation the cell cover density and cell count was somewhat modulated over the laser-modified samples compared to the as-received sample. A likely increase in surface toxicity gave rise to a hindered cell response for those samples with high energy densities and high incident pulse numbers. No strong correlations were determined for the laser-induced patterned samples which can be attributed to the likely mixed-state wetting regime. Correlative trends were found between the cell response, θ, polar component and surface oxygen content for the whole area irradiative processed samples. Thus, allowing one to identify the potential for this technology in regenerative medicine.