Novel organic thin film biomaterials for tissue engineering

自20世纪60年代以来，通过使用“冷”（非平衡）低压（LP）等离子体的薄膜沉积和蚀刻操作在信息技术中取得了突出成就。这两个操作和第三个操作，聚合物的表面改性，现在也被用于许多其他行业。最近，在实施大气压（AP）的“冷”等离子体，主要是介质阻挡放电（DBD）品种，这三个过程类别已经取得了很大的进展。除了直接使用LP和AP等离子体之外，还可以通过真空紫外（VUV，λ < 200 nm）光化学进行这样的过程，因为商业（基于等离子体的）VUV源可以有效地将电能转换成短波长光子。（单能）光化学相对于其基于等离子体的对应物的潜在优势在于，前者可导致更具“靶向”的反应，具有更高的所需产物产率。在申请人的实验室中进行的上述所有类型（LP-、AP-、VUV-）的研究迄今为止已经产生了400多篇参考出版物，二十多项专利，并向工业界转让了许多技术。现在，他提出了一种新颖的、高度跨学科的研究方法，用于生物医学“组织工程”应用中的有机薄膜。这种涂层必须非常富含某些类型的化学官能团，例如伯胺，它们必须牢固地粘附于各种基底材料，必须抵抗大气中的“老化”和水性（细胞培养）介质中的溶解，以及其他标准。最后，当然，它们必须首先从培养的细胞类型中引发所需的生物反应。后一个方面要求与任何特定分项目中涉及的细胞生物学和医学科学专家密切合作。在过去的十年中，申请人的实验室已经开发了所需的合作网络，主要是与麦吉尔大学和蒙特利尔大学医学院的高级研究人员合作。

Deposition of thin films and etching operations via the use of "cold" (thermodynamically non-equilibrium) low-pressure (LP) plasmas achieved prominence in information technology since the 1960s. Those two operations and a third, surface modification of polymers, are now also being used in many other industries. Recently, there has been much progress in implementing atmospheric-pressure (AP) "cold" plasmas, mostly the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) variety, for those three process categories. Beside direct use of LP and AP plasmas, it is also possible to carry out such processes by vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV, lambda < 200 nm) photochemistry, since commercial (plasma-based) VUV sources can efficiently convert electrical energy into short-wavelength photons. A potential advantage of (mono-energetic) photo-chemistry over its plasma-based counterparts is that the former may result in more "targeted" reactions, with higher yields of the desired products. Research in the applicant's laboratory of all types (LP-, AP-, VUV-) above has so far resulted in well over 400 refereed publications, in more than two dozen patents, and in much technology transfer to industry. He now proposes novel, highly interdisciplinary research on thin organic films for use in bio-medical "tissue engineering" applications. Such coatings must be very rich in certain types of chemical functionalities, for example in primary amines, they must adhere strongly to various substrate materials, must resist "ageing" in atmosphere and dissolution in aqueous (cell-culture) media, among other criteria. Finally, of course, they must first and foremost elicit the desired bio-response from the cell-type(s) being cultured. This latter aspect calls for close collaboration with specialists in the cell-biological and medical sciences that are being addressed in any given sub-project. During the past ten years, the applicant's laboratory has developed the required network of collaborations, mostly with senior researchers in the medical faculties of McGill and Montréal universities.