A multiscale modeling approach to scaffold design and property prediction

A multilayer braided scaffold for Anterior Cruciate Ligament: Mechanical modeling at the fiber scale

“…Some of these scaffolds have been shown to mimic the mechanical response of native ACL, but did not consider any morphological requirements at the basis of the scaffold design (Altman et al, 2002;Gentleman et al, 2006). However, an interconnected network of pores is needed to allow the adhesion and migration of cells and the supply of biochemical factors (Chen et al, 2001;Chan et al, 2010). More complex architectures have been proposed, such as a fourlevel architecture made of braided bundles of multi-filaments yarns (Cooper et al, 2005), or a microporous silk mesh rolled up around a braided silk rope (Fan et al, 2009).…”

“…Even if they are interrelated, these requirements can be separated into those that aim (1) to restore the function of the native tissue during the rehabilitation period (2) to provide the cells with a suitable micro-environment. In view of satisfying these two types of requirements, the interest of computeraided Tissue Engineering has been largely demonstrated: numerical methods may ease indeed the complexity of the scaffold design stage by enabling to optimize (1) the global properties of scaffolds (Jaecques et al, 2004;Fang et al, 2005;Saito et al, 2010;Chan et al, 2010) (2) the mechanical environment of cells induced by external loading (Sandino et al, 2008;Stops et al, 2010;Sandino and Lacroix, 2011). In the first case, Finite Element (FE) codes may be used to predict the scaffold properties, starting from the scaffold material and architecture.…”

“…Particularly, this type of mechanical modeling would permit: (1) to predict the tensile properties of the scaffold as a function of the different process parameters (2) to compute the microscopic mechanical environment of the scaffold, which will constitute a powerful tool for further mechanobiological analyses. Whereas such multiscale analyses applied to different types of scaffolds are numerous in the literature (Lacroix et al, 2006;Sandino et al, 2008;Jones et al, 2009;Stops et al, 2010;Chan et al, 2010), applications to ligament tissue engineering have not been reported to the author's knowledge.…”

Predicting the Elastic Properties of Selective Laser Sintered PCL/β-TCP Bone Scaffold Materials Using Computational Modelling

“…Micromechanics approaches to evaluate the mechanical properties of particle-reinforced composites traditionally use idealised microstructures based on particle distribution and are often modelled under periodic boundary conditions 5 . This approach was used by Eshragi et al to determine the bulk mechanical properties of a PCL/hydroxyapatite SLS scaffold 14 .…”

3D interconnected porous HA scaffolds with SiO2additions: Effect of SiO2content and macropore size on the viability of human osteoblast cells

“…The porosity of the scaffold appears critical to the development of bone replacement material, as the pore size and interconnectivity play a major role in both biological functionality (bone ingrowth and nutrient flow) and mechanical properties of the bone scaffold. 27,28 The 45 ppi scaffolds have a large pore size through which cells can conveniently flow with a high degree of attachment and proliferation compared with a scaffold having high porosity/small pore size. This also corresponds with the results of a study showing that cell proliferation as well as ALP activity is higher on ceramic scaffolds with higher porosity.…”