Computational Methods in the Modeling of Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering - Computational Modeling in Tissue Engineering - page 109

Fig. 4 Computational simulation of bone tissue regeneration that consists of scaffold degrada-
tion and new bone formation using the voxel finite element method. a Lattice-like structure with
l = 1.6 mm and b spherical pore structure with d = 2.6 mm (modified from Adachi et al. [ 17 ])
The changes in the total strain energy of the bone-scaffold system, U(t), in the
regeneration process are plotted in Fig. 4 for the lattice-like and spherical pore
structures. A transition of the mechanical function between two structural com-
ponents can be seen. For the lattice-like structure the crossing point occurs at 40
days, while for the spherical pore it occurs at 20 days. The scaffold pore structure
design presents the highest influence in the bone regeneration process. Through the
case presented, it was demonstrated that the optimal design variables of the
scaffold can be determined by computational simulation of bone regeneration.
However, the rate equations for new bone formation and scaffold degradation were
derived on the basis of various simplifications and assumptions.
3.3 Homogenization Method for Scaffold Design
Studies of different mathematical cell units designed for RP methods were made to
create a library of structures based on CAD design [ 20 - 22 ]. Porous scaffold design
is a compromise between high mechanical function and high mass transport needs.