Large-Area Flexible Photopolymerized Scaffolds: Fabrication and Application to Cardiomyocytes

Direct laser writing is a remarkable process for digitally sustainable and fully customized manufacturing of medical components. This study reports on the fabrication of large-area 2D polymer-based scaffolds by ultrashort laser pulses. Designs for scaffolds can be fabricated in minutes over large centimeter areas. They are free-standing, thin, and flexible, with feature sizes down to a few microns. Isotropic and non-isotropic fibrous-like geometries are possible. Scaffolds can be rendered electrically conducting in whole or in part. They have excellent deformability; they can be elastically strained to 20% without fracture. Adhesion, proliferation, and alignment of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes thrive when deployed on scaffolds. Cells are shown to mature well. A comprehensive network of sarcomeres and contractile agility is also observed across the scaffold. Synchronized beating of cells is observed over large areas for time scales of up to 30 days. Evidence of the periodic deformation of the scaffold due to the cyclic forces exerted by the beating cells is observed. The approach is promising for industrial-scale fabrication of 2D scaffold structures tailored to the geometrical, mechanical, and electrical requirements of many cell and tissue targets beyond cardiomyocytes, with future 3D structures realizable by folding or layering.