FLUID MECHANICS SIMULATION OF 3D-PRINTED SCAFFOLDS IN A BIOREACTOR SYSTEM
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Date
2016-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Perfusion of porous scaffolds may enhance osteogenesis through increased mass transport and shear stress stimulation. Therefore, it is important to quantify the fluid mechanics, especially the fluid-induced shear stresses, present in the perfusion bioreactor systems used to culture scaffolds. Experimental measurement of shear stress is improbable since there is no practical method available to measure the shear stress distribution on the surface of a complex three-dimensional scaffold. This study aims to computationally simulate fluid flow in a bioreactor and to correlate the estimated shear stress with biological outcomes. Specifically, scaffold models with a Schoen’s gyroid pore geometry were generated using MATLAB. The COMSOL Multiphysics software package was used to solve the governing fluid-dynamic equations (Navier-Stokes). The computer simulations identified a significant shortcoming of the bioreactor system; appropriate changes were made to fix the problem. A simple yet useful equation was derived to convert flow rates used in published literature on perfusion systems to shear stresses that cells would experience on the surfaces of the scaffolds. The combination of computer simulations with experimental studies on the effect of flow will accelerate our progress in making effective scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications.
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Keywords
Computational Fluid Dynamics, Bone Tissue Engineering, Mechanobiology, Perfusion Systems