Advances in Manufacturing of Biodegradable Spinal Cord Implants on Microscale through Micromolding and 3D Printing

Publikationstyp
Conference Paper
Date Issued
2019-06
Sprache
English
Author(s)
Poblotzki, Jana von 
Lipka, Timo  
Voss, Christian  
Trieu, Hoc Khiem  
Institut
Mikrosystemtechnik E-7  
TORE-URI
http://hdl.handle.net/11420/3371
Start Page
2185
End Page
2188
Article Number
8808647
Citation
International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems and Eurosensors XXXIII : 8808647 (2019-06)
Contribution to Conference
20th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems and Eurosensors XXXIII, TRANSDUCERS 2019 and EUROSENSORS XXXIII  
Publisher DOI
10.1109/TRANSDUCERS.2019.8808647
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85071920378
Spinal cord injury is a life changing event potentially leading to permanent paralysis. This paper presents advances in developing an implant for spinal cord treatment called mechanical microconnector system (mMS). A micromolding process was developed to transfer the mMS from biocompatible to biodegradable material. The results consist of a determined parameter-set for micromolding of biodegradable mMS for two poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) compounds and polycaprolactone (PCL). The process starts with a complex 3D quartz glass premaster, built through ultrafast laser radiation and subsequent wet-chemical etching (SLE = selective laser induced etching). The incorporation of a 3D printing technique arises from the objective to individualize and automatically produce biodegradable implants out of medical image data in future.
Subjects
3D Printing
Biodegradable
Implant
Micromolding
Poly(Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid)
Spinal Cord Injury