Description
In-vitro cell studies are fast becoming the preferred technique for developing pharmaceuticals, patient specific cell therapies and fundamental biological understandings, avoiding invasive and expensive animal models. To meet the demand for in-vitro models, there is an increasing need for cell culture platforms that support multimodal characterisation, combining optical imaging with electrical stimulation and readout to provide a comprehensive understanding of cellular behaviour and response.
Plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) has been demonstrated as a biofunctionalisation technique, producing a-C:N:H thin-film coated surfaces that support strong biomolecular adhesion and facilitate long term and complex in-vitro cell growth. More recently, we have demonstrated the scalable, maskless and custom patterning of electrically conductive regions using PECVD a-C:N:H film precursors via laser induced graphitisation techniques. The combined dry synthesis approach forms a rapid fabrication strategy that produces transparent, micro-scale electrodes across a biofunctional surface, well suited for in-vitro studies.
Here we present the recent results in the development of a stand alone dry synthesis platform for enhanced in-vitro studies using the combination of plasma synthesis and laser modification strategies. The influence of key fabrication parameters on the structural, electrical, and morphological properties of the resulting surfaces is examined using a range of complementary characterisation techniques. Demonstrations across multiple cell culture applications highlight the versatility of the approach, and the integration of these processes into a complete multimodal device platform is discussed.
| I am the presenting author | Yes |
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