Mathematical modelling of fibre-enhanced perfusion inside a tissue-engineering bioreactor

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-21-2009

Abstract

We develop a simple mathematical model for forced flow of culture medium through a porous scaffold in a tissue-engineering bioreactor. Porous-walled hollow fibres penetrate the scaffold and act as additional sources of culture medium. The model, based on Darcy's law, is used to examine the nutrient and shear-stress distributions throughout the scaffold. We consider several configurations of fibres and inlet and outlet pipes. Compared with a numerical solution of the full Navier-Stokes equations within the complex scaffold geometry, the modelling approach is cheap, and does not require knowledge of the detailed microstructure of the particular scaffold being used. The potential of this approach is demonstrated through quantification of the effect the additional flow from the fibres has on the nutrient and shear-stress distribution. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifier

58749086882 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Journal of Theoretical Biology

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2008.10.013

e-ISSN

10958541

ISSN

00225193

PubMed ID

19014952

First Page

533

Last Page

546

Issue

4

Volume

256

Grant

EP/D070635/2

Fund Ref

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

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