Abstract

On account of an ever increasing demand on medicine there is a need and a drive by the biomedical industry to develop robust and predictable implant technology. This paper gives an account of the implementation of CO2 and KrF excimer laser systems to modulate the biofunctionality of nylon 6,6 in terms of osteoblast cell response. There were correlative trends between the cell response, contact angle, 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. However, no strong correlations were determined for the laser-induced patterned samples which can be attributed to the likely mixed-state wetting regime. Through analytical analysis, governing equations are discussed, showing how different parameters can be used to predict the wettability of, and biological cell response to, laser surface engineered nylon 6,6.