Micro computed tomography based finite element models of calcium phosphate scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

Bone is a living tissue that is able to regenerate by itself. However, when severe bone defects occur, the natural regeneration may be impaired. In these cases, bone graft substitutes can be used to induce the natural healing process. As a scaffold for tissue engineering, these bone graft substitutes have to meet specific requirements. Among others, the material must be biocompatible, biodegradable and have a porous structure to allow vascularization, cell migration and formation of new bone. Additionally, the mechanical properties of the scaffold have to resemble the ones of native tissue. The goal of this project is to create a computational model of the calcium phosphate scaffolds that are produced by rapid-prototyping by the Biomaterials, Biomechanics, and Tissue Engineering group at the Technical University of Catalonia. These models are based on finite element analysis and micro computed tomography images in order to consider the actual architecture of the scaffolds. The generated FE-models allow the computation of both local strains, which act as mechanical stimuli on attached cells, as well as the behaviour of the entire scaffold. When considering this information, the scaffold can be optimized for tissue differentiation by tuning both the scaffold architecture and the scaffold material bulk properties.Incomin