Reduced bacterial adhesion on titanium surfaces micro-structured by ultra-short pulsed laser ablation

Implant-associated infections still pose serious problems in modern medicine. The development of fabrication processes to generate functional surfaces, which inhibit bacterial attachment, is of major importance. Sharklet™-like as well as grooves and grid micro-structures having similar dimensions were fabricated on the common implant material titanium by ultra-short pulsed laser ablation. Investigations on the biofilm formation of Staphylococcus aureus for up to 24 h revealed similarly reduced bacterial surface coverage on all micro-structures investigated compared to smooth titanium surfaces. This study is a prove-of-principle and could serve as basis for further investigations towards a structure-based biofilm-inhibiting implant.