**1. Introduction**

In the last few years, the research on microfabricated devices or implants for biomedical applications has quickly advanced [1, 2]. The aim of biological implants is to reinforce or replace the damaged or diseased tissue [3]. The presence of a biomaterial in the body after

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

implantation procedure always causes a biological reaction [4]. This is a host response to the new living conditions and suggests that the body is trying to adapt at the given situation [5].

Every year, for a large number of patients, biomaterials save lives, relieve suffering, and improve the quality of life [6]. To achieve the needs of the biomedical society, materials comprise everything from metals and ceramics to glasses and polymers have been investigated [7].

Biomaterial performances can be improved by selectively modifying the surface properties. One simple solution could be the deposition of thin films useful for changing the chemical and physical properties of biomaterials and important in achieving the optimal surface [8]. There are many studies which demonstrated that the cell response is dependent on surface topography [4].

Laser processing of natural or synthetic biomaterials has been rapidly developed to produce biomimetic artificial organs, tissue engineering scaffolds, and other biomedical constructs [9]. The laser processing techniques are commonly grouped into three categories: polymerization (use of laser to induce cross-linking between biomaterial polymer chains), ablation (use of laser to selectively remove part of the biomaterial by thermal or chemical effects), and activation (use of laser to activate certain parts on the polymer chains for specific application) [9]. Relative to other methods, laser processing of biomaterials presents some advantages: reduced surface contamination and mechanical damage and the capability to produce three-dimensional components with complicated geometries by controlling the surface structuring [4].

The physics behind the interaction of laser pulse with the solid surfaces can help us to better understand the laser ablation mechanism [10].

This chapter will provide a brief overview in the field of laser ablation of biomaterials, starting with the explanation of ablation mechanism and then presenting some of its applications.
