A new process for making human tissuethat uses ultra short pulse lasers holds the promise of revolutionizing healthcare by making spare parts cheap and plentiful. A team at the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland has published details of its low-cost submicron fabrication technique for manufacturing human spare parts, claiming that the process allows for "direct-write three-dimensional forming method of biomaterials" on a nano and micrometer scale.

The key to the new process is the way in which polymerization occurs. The conventional method of polymerization, which is essentially the formation large molecules from small molecules, uses ultraviolet light which induce molecules to form three-dimensional polymer chains.

However, UV light causes hardening of the material along the entire path of the UV-beam, according to the VTT team, making it impossible to form very small three-dimensional features. The new laser-based method relies on a two-photon polymerization below the surface of liquid material. The result is that very small, very precise structures can be assembled -- all using an inexpensive, low-power laser.

Nanofoot Finland Oy is commercializing the new process, but no details were disclosed regarding when commercial versions of the two-photon polymerization process will be available.