Surface characterization and in vitro biocompatibility assessment of photosensitive polyimide films

Polyimide (PI) is a commonly used polymer in microelectronics. Recently, numerous PI-based flexible neural interfaces have been developed for reducing mechanical mismatch between rigid implant and soft neural tissue. Most approaches employ non-photosensitive PI, which has been proven earlier to be biocompatible. However, photosensitive polyimide (PSPI) would simplify device fabrication remarkably, but its biocompatibility has been only sparsely reported. In this study, cytotoxicity of spin-coated PSPI (HD Microsystems PI-2771) and conventional PI (HD Microsystems PI-2525) films were evaluated in vitro using BHK-21 fibroblasts according to the ISO-10993-5 standard. PSPIs were tested as cured at a temperature of 200 °C (PI-2771-200) and 350 °C (PI-2771-350). The PI film surfaces were characterized in terms of their roughness, energy and zeta potential which are hypothesized to affect cell–material interactions. The values of the total surface free energy (SFE), and its polar and dispersive component, were significantly (p < 0.001) greater for the PI-2525 film (SFE: 47.3 mJ/m2) than for the PI-2771-200 (25.6 mJ/m2) or PI-2771-350 films (26.2 mJ/m2). The curing temperature of the PI-2771 had a significant effect on the zeta potential values (p < 0.001), but not on surface energy (p = 0.091) or roughness (p = 0.717). The results from the MTS proliferation assays and live/dead staining revealed that PSPI is almost as non-cytotoxic as conventional PI and polyethylene (negative control). The morphology and spreading of BHK-21 cells were similar on all the PI materials tested. In conclusion, PSPI seems to be a promising biocompatible material, while further studies in vitro and in vivo are needed to clarify the long-term effects.