Oscillatory shear stress (OSS), caused by time-varying flow environments, may play a critical role in the production of engineered tissue by bone marrow-derived stem cells. This is particularly relevant in heart valve tissue engineering (HVTE), owing to the intense haemodynamic environments that surround native valves. In this study, we examined and quantified the role that (i) physiologically relevant scales of pulsatility and (ii) changes in geometry as a function of specimen flexure have in creating OSS conditions. A U-shaped bioreactor capable of producing flow, stretch and flexure was modelled with housed specimens, and computational fluid dynamic simulations were performed. We found that physiologically relevant OSS can be maximised by the application of pulsatile flow to straight, non-moving specimens in a uniform manner. This finding reduces a substantial layer of complexity in dynamic HVTE protocols in which traditionally, time-varying flow has been promoted through specimen movement in custom-made bioreactors.
There is extensive documented evidence that mechanical conditioning plays a significant role in the development of tissue grown in-vitro for heart valve scaffolds [1–3]. Modern custom made bioreactors have been used to study the mechanobiology of engineered heart valve tissues [1]. Specifically fluid-induced shears stress patterns may play a critical role in up-regulating extracellular matrix secretion by progenitor cell sources such as bone marrow derived stem cells (BMSCs) [2] and increasing the possibility of cell differentiation towards a heart valve phenotype. We hypothesize that specific biomimetic fluid induced shear stress environments, particularly oscillatory shear stress (OSS), have significant effects on BMSCs phenotype and formation rates. As a first step here, we attempt to quantify and delineate the entire 3-D flow field by developing a CFD model to predict the fluid induced shear stress environments on engineered heart valves tissue under quasi-static steady flow and dynamic steady flow conditions.
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