title: An experimental fatigue study of a porous scaffold for the regeneration of articular cartilage.
abstract: The aim of this experimental study is to predict the long-term mechanical behavior of a porous scaffold implanted in a cartilage defect for tissue engineering purpose. Fatigue studies were performed by up to 100,000 unconfined compression cycles in a polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold with highly interconnected pores architecture. The scaffold compliance, stress-strain response and hysteresis energy have been measured after different number of fatigue cycles, while the morphology has been observed by scanning electron microscopy at the same fatigue times. To simulate the growing tissue in the scaffold/tissue construct, the scaffold was filled with an aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and subjected to repeating cycles of freezing and thawing that increase the hydrogel stiffness. Fatigue studies show that the mechanical loading provokes failure of the dry scaffold at a smaller number of deformation cycles than when it is immersed in water, and also that 100,000 compressive dynamic cycles do not affect the scaffold/gel construct. This shows the stability of the scaffold implanted in a chondral defect and gives a realistic simulation of the mechanical performance from implantation of the empty scaffold to regeneration of the new tissue inside the scaffold's pores.
authors: Centre for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain.. Electronic address: livi1@upv.es.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Vikingsson
authors: Centre for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain.
authors: J A
authors: JA
authors: Gómez-Tejedor
authors: Centre for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain.; Ciber en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Valencia, Spain.
authors: G
authors: G
authors: Gallego Ferrer
authors: Centre for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain.; Ciber en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Valencia, Spain.
authors: J L
authors: JL
authors: Gómez Ribelles
mesh_terms: D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D002356:Cartilage; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D019245:Compressive Strength; D006801:Humans; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol; D016062:Porosity; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D012038:Regeneration; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; C016240:polycaprolactone; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol
keywords: Cartilage regeneration; Fatigue prediction; Mechanical properties of biomaterials; Scaffolds; Tissue engineering