Structural and vascular analysis of tissue engineering scaffolds, Part 1: Numerical fluid analysis.
Rapid prototyping technologies were recently introduced in the medical field, being particularly viable to produce porous scaffolds for tissue engineering. These scaffolds should be biocompatible, biodegradable, with appropriate porosity, pore structure, and pore distribution on top of presenting both surface and structural compatibility. This chapter presents the state-of-the-art in tissue engineering and scaffold design using numerical fluid analysis for optimal vascular design. The vascularization of scaffolds is an important aspect due to its influence regarding the normal flow of biofluids within the human body. This computational tool also allows to design either a scaffold offering less resistance to the normal flow of biofluids or reducing the possibility for blood coagulation through forcing the flow toward a specific direction.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute for Polymers and Composites, School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal.
Henrique A
HA
Almeida
Paulo J
PJ
Bártolo
D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D018056:Hemorheology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D008958:Models, Molecular; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
D001672:Biocompatible Materials