Vitamin B2 in Two Photon Polymerization for Implantable Devices
January 21, 2014 | Terry Sharrer
To treat milder forms of the degenerative eye disease keratoconus ophthalmologists apply a few drops of liquid riboflavin (vitamin B2) to the cornea and then expose the eye to UV-A light. This induces collagen crosslinking, thereby increasing the cornea’s shape-holding strength. Knowing this, researchers in North Carolina and Germany have created a material from riboflavin and the photoinitiator triethanolamine which a femtosecond burst of laser light turns into a polymer chain. They have shown that this material has improved biocompatibility when used for implantable medical devices. MORE
Image Credit: Regenerative Medicine 8, no. 6 (2013), 725–738. and QMed.com