Cell-Laden Alginate Hydrogel Modelling using Three-Dimensional (3D) Microscale Finite Element Technique

Abstract

A novel modelling technique using finite element analysis to mimic the mechanoresponse of cell-laden biomaterial is proposed for the use in bioinks and other tissue engineering applications. Here, a hydrogel-based composite biomaterial specimen was used consisting of 5% (V/V) HeLa cells added to alginate solution (4% W/V) and another specimen with no living cell present in alginate solution (4% W/V). Tensile test experiments were performed on both the specimens with a load cell of 25 N. The specimens were bioprinted using an in-house developed three-dimensional (3D) bioprinter. To allow for the nonlinear hyperelastic behaviour of the specimen, the specimens were loaded very slowly, at rates of 0.1 mm/min and 0.5 mm/min, during the tensile test, respectively. The microscale finite element models developed in ANSYS were loaded with similar load rates and their responses were recorded. Both the model results were validated with the experiment results. A very good agreement between the finite element model and the tensile test experiment was observed under the same mechanical stimuli. Hence, the study reveals that cell-seeded bioprinted scaffold can be virtually modelled to obtain its mechanical characteristics beforehand.