Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Computational Modeling of Tissue
Engineering Scaffolds as Delivery Devices
for Mechanical and Mechanically
Modulated Signals
Min Jae Song, David Dean and Melissa L. Knothe Tate
Abstract In this chapter, we outline the use of computational modeling and novel
experimental methods to develop tissue engineering scaffolds as delivery devices
for exogenous and endogenous cues, including biochemical and mechanical sig-
nals, to drive the fate of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) seeded within. Tissue
regeneration in mature organisms recapitulates de novo tissue generation during
organismal development. This gave us the impetus to develop tissue engineering
scaffolds that deliver mechanical and chemical cues intrinsic to the environment of
cells during mesenchymal condensation, which marks the initiation of skeleto-
genesis during development. Cell seeding density and mode of achieving density
(protocol) have been shown to effect dilatational (volume changing) stresses on
stem cells and deviatoric (shape changing) stresses on their nuclei. Shear flow
provides a practical means to deliver mechanical forces within scaffolds, resulting
in both dilatational and deviatoric stresses on cell surfaces. Both spatiotemporal
mechanical cue delivery and mechanically modulated biochemical gradients can
be further honed through optimization of scaffold geometry and mechanical
properties. We use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) coupled with finite ele-
ment analysis (FEA) modeling to predict flow regimes within the scaffolds and
optimize flow rates to simulate seeded cells. This chapter outlines to major
advantages of using computational modeling to design and optimize tissue engi-
neering scaffold geometry, material behavior, and tissue ingrowth over time.
M. J. Song
D. Dean
M. L. Knothe Tate (
)
Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue,
Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
e-mail: mkt4@case.edu
&
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