Mechanobiology stimuli on tissue regeneration prediction in 3D printed bone scaffold.

Abstract

Bone remodeling is due to mechanical loading that stimulate the bone formation in parallel to the loading direction. Pore geometries and pore sizes have been proved to influence the tissue growth in the scaffolds. Therefore, a successful scaffold construct is not only depending to geometrical design, but also mechanical stimuli such as tensile strain and fluid velocity. In this study, tissue growth in the 3D-printed scaffold with different pore shapes were simulated by using a computational model of Mechano-regulation based on shear strain and fluid velocity as the main factors of biophysical stimuli (S). The finding shows that hexagonal pore shape had the highest tissue growth as compared with circular and square pore shape due to the highest value of biophysical stimuli (S). Hexagonal pore shape also had the highest value of shear strain compared to other shapes. Formation of fibrous tissue and cartilage tissue was predicted for all pore shapes with hexagonal had the highest tissue formation. Prediction of the tissue growth is significant to the nutrient supply within the scaffold, thus aiding in the success of scaffold construct.