Acoustic method for permeability measurement of tissue-engineering scaffold

An accurate intrinsic permeability measurement system has been designed and realized in order to quantify the inter-pore connectivity structure of tissue-engineering scaffolds by using a single (pressure) transducer. The proposed method uses a slow alternating airflow as a fluid medium and allows at the same time a simple and accurate measurement procedure. The intrinsic permeability is determined in the linear Darcy's region, and deviation from linearity due to inertial losses is also quantified. The structural parameters of a scaffold, such as effective porosity, tortuosity and effective length of cylindrical pores, are estimated using the classical Ergun's equation recently modified by Wu et al. From this relation, it is possible to achieve a well-defined range of data and associated uncertainties for characterizing the structure/architecture of tissue-engineering scaffolds. This quantitative analysis is of paramount importance in tissue engineering, where scaffold topological features are strongly related to their biological performance.

[1]  Yu Bo-Ming,et al.  A Geometry Model for Tortuosity of Flow Path in Porous Media , 2004 .

[2]  Joo L. Ong,et al.  Diffusion in Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering Scaffolds: Design Issues Related to Porosity, Permeability, Architecture, and Nutrient Mixing , 2004, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

[3]  Robert K. Niven,et al.  Physical insight into the Ergun and Wen & Yu equations for fluid flow in packed and fluidised beds , 2002 .

[4]  J. P. D. Plessis,et al.  Analytical quantification of coefficients in the Ergun equation for fluid friction in a packed bed , 1994 .

[5]  S. Ergun.  Fluid flow through packed columns , 1952 .

[6]  A. Meunier,et al.  Tissue-engineered bone regeneration , 2000, Nature Biotechnology.

[7]  N. Otsu.  A threshold selection method from gray level histograms , 1979 .

[8]  Boming Yu,et al.  A resistance model for flow through porous media , 2008 .

[9]  M J Grimm,et al.  Measurements of permeability in human calcaneal trabecular bone. , 1997, Journal of biomechanics.

[10]  P. Layrolle,et al.  Macroporous biphasic calcium phosphate scaffold with high permeability/porosity ratio. , 2003, Tissue engineering.

[11]  Henry Gerber,et al.  Acoustic Properties of Fluid‐Filled Chambers at Infrasonic Frequencies in the Absence of Convection , 1964 .

[12]  I. F. Macdonald,et al.  Flow through Porous Media-the Ergun Equation Revisited , 1979 .

[13]  S. Mullens,et al.  Permeability of porous gelcast scaffolds for bone tissue engineering , 2010 .

[14]  Patrick J Prendergast,et al.  The effect of pore size on permeability and cell attachment in collagen scaffolds for tissue engineering. , 2007, Technology and health care : official journal of the European Society for Engineering and Medicine.

[15]  Jason P. Gleghorn,et al.  Microfluidic scaffolds for tissue engineering. , 2007, Nature materials.

[16]  Aldo R Boccaccini,et al.  Permeability evaluation of 45S5 Bioglass-based scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. , 2009, Journal of biomechanics.

[17]  Wei Li,et al.  A permeability measurement system for tissue engineering scaffolds , 2006 .

[18]  Dietmar W Hutmacher,et al.  A comparison of micro CT with other techniques used in the characterization of scaffolds. , 2006, Biomaterials.

[19]  C. M. Agrawal,et al.  Effects of fluid flow on the in vitro degradation kinetics of biodegradable scaffolds for tissue engineering. , 2000, Biomaterials.

[20]  P R Fernandes,et al.  Permeability analysis of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. , 2012, Journal of biomechanics.