Computational Simulations of Tissue Scaffolds: Creating a Degradation Model

Faculty Sponsor

Bethany Luke

Streaming Media

College

Engineering

Department/Program

Bioengineering

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Summer 7-24-2020

Abstract

Tissue scaffolds are an ideal medical device that helps restore mechanical functions to the affected tissue. The scaffolds act like a “home” for cells to be seeded into allowing them to differentiate and produce healthy tissue. Our objective in researching tissue scaffolds is to create the optimal model through computational simulations in order to design better scaffolds. We focused our research on the degradation of fibers within the scaffold where the degradation rate is defined in our model as the loss of fiber segments over time. The ideal rate should never exceed the rate of tissue formation. However, degradation is influenced by multiple factors such as polymer molecular weight, crystallinity, and autocatalytic reactions. Our goal is to research the criterion that influences the degradation rate in order to see the effect it has on fiber scission. The parameters used in our model are based on research reported in Chen and Sensini. In order to accomplish the goal, we used MATLAB to simulate the effect the parameters had on fiber degradation. At the end of the simulation process, we compared our results to experimental data obtained by other researchers. The comparison showed that our simulated model for degrading fibers is accurate to in Vitro data. Future simulations will focus on parameters for amorphous polymers such as poly(D-lactide) (PDLA) and the attachment points between a cell and a fiber.

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