Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT
Medical Technology and Biophotonics
Together with partners from the Life Sciences, the technology field Medical Technology and Biophotonics opens up new areas of applications for lasers in therapy and diagnostics as well as in microscopy and analytics. The process Selective Laser Melting, developed at the Fraunhofer ILT, allows implants to be generated, tailored to the individual patent on the basis of data from computer tomography. The material variety ranges from titanium through polyactide all the way to resorbable man-made bone based on calcium phosphate.
In close cooperation with clinical partners, this field develops medical lasers with adapted wavelengths, microsurgical systems and new laser therapy processes for surgery, wound treatment and tissue therapy. Thus, for example, the coagulation of tissue or precise removal of soft and hard tissue is being investigated.
Nanoanalytics as well as point-of-care diagnostics demand inexpensive single-use microfluidic components. These can now be manufactured with high precision up into the nanometer range using laser-based processes such as joining, structuring and functionalizing. Clinical diagnostics, bioanalytics and laser microscopy rely on the institute's profound know-how in measurement technology. In the area of biofunctionalization/biofabrication, processes for in-vitro testing systems or tissue engineering are being advanced. Thanks to its competence in nanostructuring and photochemical surface modification, the technology field is making a contribution to generating biofunctional surfaces.