CHAPTER 5
 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK


 Conclusions

Microtextured Surfaces

 To examine the effects of contact guidance on silicone elastomers, microtextured

substrates were produced with reproducible and well-defined surfaces. Ridges of 10,000

[lm length were fabricated at 3 different widths: 5 [m, 10 [m, and 20 [m, separated by 5

[lm wide grooves to determine the effect of separation of features on the alignment of

porcine vascular endothelial cells. Two depths were examined: 5 [im and 1.5 im. The

silicone elastomer samples were produced by casting a film on a textured mold and

allowing the samples to cure. Molds used were either silicon wafers or epoxy replicates

of the wafers. The surfaces were created with micromachining technology, specifically

photolithographic patterning followed by reactive ion etching. After examination of the

surfaces by optical profilometry, it was determined that the silicone copies faithfully

reproduced the textured surface and the textures were of the expected design. Closer

examination demonstrated that the 1.5 [m deep wafer and samples had a more rounded

appearance and had ridge widths -1 [m less than expected. The depths measured

corresponded with designed values of 1.5 [m and 5 [m within experimental error. All

elastomer types used in this study faithfully reproduced the applied texture and gave a

stable substrate for comparison.