Effects of Scaffold Pore Morphologies on Glucose Transport Limitations in Hollow Fibre Membrane Bioreactor for Bone Tissue Engineering: Experiments and Numerical Modelling.

Shuai Wang,Stella Georgiadou,Diganta B Das,John P Ward,Mostafa Mabrouk,Hazwani Suhaimi

doi:10.3390/membranes11040257

Shuai Wang, Stella Georgiadou + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11040257

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Journal: Membranes	Publication Date: Apr 2, 2021
Citations: 12	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Loughborough University, National Research Centre

Abstract

In the current research, three electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds with different pore morphology induced by changing the electrospinning parameters, spinning time and rate, have been prepared in order to provide a fundamental understanding on the effects pore morphology have on nutrient transport behaviour in hollow fibre membrane bioreactor (HFMB). After determining the porosity of the scaffolds, they were investigated for glucose diffusivity using cell culture media (CCM) and distilled water in a diffusion cell at 37 °C. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the microstructure of the scaffolds were analysed further using ImageJ software to determine the porosity and glucose diffusivity. A Krogh cylinder model was used to determine the glucose transport profile with dimensionless variables within the HFMB. The paper discusses the roles of various dimensionless numbers (e.g., Péclet and Damköhler numbers) and non-dimensional groups of variables (e.g., non-dimensional fibre radius) on determining glucose concentration profiles, especially in the scaffold region. A negative linear relationship between glucose diffusivities across PCL scaffolds and the minimum glucose concentrations (i.e., concentration on the outer fibre edge on the outlet side (at z = 1 and r = 3.2) was also found. It was shown that the efficiency of glucose consumption improves with scaffolds of higher diffusivities. The results of this study are expected to help in optimizing designs of HFMB as well as carry out more accurate up scaling analyses for the bioreactor.

Highlights

Due to the shortage of bone grafts and the likelihood of disease transmission via the grafts from other patients, bone tissue engineering (BTE) has become an important approach for replacing bone tissue defects in recent years [1,2]
One of the key factors is to have a porous scaffold with an inter-connected network of pores that could be used as a replacement for the extra cellular space (ECS) in TE bioreactors
This work aimed to develop an image-based simulation method with a view to capture the effects of membrane pore morphology on nutrient transport in HFMB, it is important to calibrate the image processing method

Summary

Introduction

Due to the shortage of bone grafts and the likelihood of disease transmission via the grafts from other patients, bone tissue engineering (BTE) has become an important approach for replacing bone tissue defects in recent years [1,2]. Due to the stringent requirements of cell density and mechanical strength in bone grafts, many factors need to be considered to achieve a successful bone tissue engineered product. In this regard, one of the key factors is to have a porous scaffold with an inter-connected network of pores that could be used as a replacement for the extra cellular space (ECS) in TE bioreactors. One of the key factors is to have a porous scaffold with an inter-connected network of pores that could be used as a replacement for the extra cellular space (ECS) in TE bioreactors This can function as a template for cell support, infiltration, and proliferation [3]. There have been a significant amount of discussion on the necessity of overcoming this nutrient limitation for optimum cell viability within the porous scaffold in TE bioreactors [5,6]

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