Materiomics: deciphering topographic cues for cell-surface interactions

The technological advances in the field of material science coupled with the improved understanding of cell behaviour have brought us to the era of smart or instructive biomaterials. In contrast to the bioinert materials this new generation of materials rely on the technological advances from the evolving field of Nanotechnology. It has long been known that the surface topography of a biomedical implant is able to dictate the response of tissue surrounding it. The increasing trend of using stem cells in combination with biomaterials requires materials with predictable instructive properties. Surface topography of an implant can provide such instructions to stem cells in a reliable manner. However, the endless possibilities for the creation of surface topographies make it difficult to choose the best one for a given implant. The field of Materiomics, which deals with high throughput screening of natural and synthetic materials and their properties, provides us with tools to better understand cell behaviour on a library of surface topographies. This thesis describes the TopoChip platform, a high‐throughput screening system for studying the interaction of cells with surface topographies