Injection Moulding of Medical Devices (IMAGE)
Caption
The use of nanopatterned substrates for biomedical application is a rapidly growing market and is expected to maintain this uptake for years to come. The reason is that biological cells are highly responsive to the surface topography on which they adhere. Previously, little care has been taken to control or elicit specific patterns in the surface mostly as a result of the manufacturing technologies used. For in vitro work, e.g., cell culture in Petri dishes, plastic substrates are predominantly used. These products are produced using injection moulding as it offers a highly cost-effective means of production as the final products are made directly without the need for further processing. It is possible to insert nickel shims in the tool of the injection moulding machine and thereby produce parts with very specific patterns. This is notability used in the production of optical storage media. Using electron beam lithography to pattern master substrates University of Glasgow has adapted the technology and is using it to produce next generation of medical devices for both in vitro work and implants.
Credit
University of Glasgow
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