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Reconstruction of bone tissue defects is a problematic area of the modern world. Temporary "platforms" of various materials for improving cell adhesion and proliferation have been extensively researched in recent decades. β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) is a suitable biocompatible, biodegradable material used for bone regeneration. The creation of scaffolds with specifically designed surface structures will enable bone engineering applications that require navigated cell proliferation on a substrate with pre-set geometric limits. In this study, an innovative laser-based technique for surface modification was applied to improve the morphological properties of the surface of β-TCP pellets for proper cell surface environment creation. The obtained topographies with diverse processing parameters were compared. Homogenous microgroove structures, less than 100 µm, without the onset of melting and crack formation, were produced. The contribution from the accumulation effect of a diverse number of laser pulses (N = 1–100) on the final structure dimensions was examined. The microstructured scaffolds were investigated by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. We studied the effect of the patterned surface of the material on the mouse calvaria osteoblast (MC3T3) cells' viability and cytotoxicity from 1 to 7 days. The results indicated that cell behavior was affected by microscale dimensions of the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface functionalization introduced by precisely-defined surface structures depended on the surface texture and quality. Laser treatment is an advanced, non-contact technique for improving the biomaterials surface characteristics. In this study, femtosecond laser modification was applied to fabricate diverse structures on biodegradable polymer thin films and their ceramic blends. The influences of key laser processing parameters like laser energy and a number of applied laser pulses (N) over laser-treated surfaces were investigated. The modification of surface roughness was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The surface roughness (Rrms) increased from approximately 0.5 to nearly 3 µm. The roughness changed with increasing laser energy and a number of applied laser pulses (N). The induced morphologies with different laser parameters were compared via Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal microscopy analysis. The chemical composition of exposed surfaces was examined by FTIR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and XRD analysis. This work illustrates the capacity of the laser microstructuring method for surface functionalization with possible applications in improvement of cellular attachment and orientation. Cells exhibited an extended shape along laser-modified surface zones compared to non-structured areas and demonstrated parallel alignment to the created structures. We examined laser-material interaction, microstructural outgrowth, and surface-treatment effect. By comparing the experimental results, it can be summarized that considerable processing quality can be obtained with femtosecond laser structuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]