Lasers & photonics
Laser technology increasingly enables patient-specific devices that could be manufactured at scale.
biological performance. On titanium and titanium- alloy implants, for example, laser-created microgrooves can increase surface hydrophilicity and promote cell adhesion, a useful property for bone screws and other orthopaedic implants. Lasers can also create surfaces that discourage bacterial adhesion. Contamination of a device during handling is one potential route to post-operative infection, and surface topography can influence how readily bacteria attach to an implant. Nanoscale and microscale patterns created using lasers are being investigated as alternatives or complements to antimicrobial coatings in some applications. Multiple studies report reduced Staphylococcus
aureus adhesion on laser-textured titanium and other orthopaedic materials versus polished controls. In one study on ultrafast-laser-textured stainless steel, Escherichia coli adhesion fell by up to 98% under specific conditions.
Corrosion presents another challenge for implants, and lasers may help here too. Degradation of an implant surface can compromise its interaction with surrounding tissue and, in some cases, contribute to device failure. In some metals, increasing surface hydrophobicity – for example, via laser texturing plus chemical modification – can improve corrosion resistance in saline environments, though long-term stability varies. In a 2020 study in Colloids and Surfaces A, nanosecond-laser treatment was used to fabricate superhydrophobic 316L stainless steel surfaces with improved corrosion resistance. A 2021 study in Surface and Coatings Technology reported laser-modified titanium (Grade 2) surfaces with altered wettability and improved corrosion behaviour.
Future applications
Where next for lasers in medical manufacturing? Bioelectronic devices are one promising area. By enabling direct microfabrication without the masks used in many conventional lithographic processes, laser-based techniques can reduce manufacturing
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steps and, in some cases, material use while enabling fine structures.
There are still limitations. According to a 2026 review in Materials Science and Engineering: R, laser-based fabrication for biomedical and healthcare devices faces challenges including localised heating of soft substrates, biocompatibility and materials integration.
Nevertheless, the authors argue that “recent advances in laser-based fabrication have significantly accelerated the development of bioelectronic devices” capable of highly sensitive monitoring. Examples include pressure sensors for gait, finger-movement and arterial-pulse monitoring; hydrogels used in experimental neural interfaces in animals; biochemical sensors for sweat and respiration; and electronic-skin platforms demonstrated to control external devices such as quadcopter drones in real time.
Laser fabrication is already used in some cochlear- implant electrode manufacturing. In the early 2020s, researchers at South Korean start-up TODOC used an LPKF laser system to pattern 32-channel cochlear- implant electrode arrays, enabling a more scalable alternative to manual fabrication.
It is difficult to predict precisely which new laser- machined implants and devices will reach clinical use next. As one paper in Small Methods puts it, “much of the bioelectronics world has already reached its goal of achieving device sizes on the scale of animal cells, particularly neuronal cell bodies”. Instead, the next major advance in laser machining may come through wider commercial adoption. Although nanosecond and femtosecond systems have enabled significant advances in medical-device development, adoption levels vary across the OEM ecosystem. As the technology becomes more accessible, its combination of speed, precision and flexibility could support a new generation of highly engineered, increasingly personalised medical devices. ●
www.medicaldevice-developments.com
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