Analysis of sintered polymer scaffolds using concomitant synchrotron computed tomography and in situ mechanical testing

Dhillon, Amritpaul, Schneider, Philipp, Kuhn, Gisela, Reinwald, Yvonne, White, Lincoln J., Levchuk, Alina, Rose, Felicity R.A.J., Müller, Ralph, Shakesheff, Kevin M. and Rahman, Cheryl V. (2011) Analysis of sintered polymer scaffolds using concomitant synchrotron computed tomography and in situ mechanical testing. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, 22 (12), 2599-2605. (doi:10.1007/s10856-011-4443-z).

Abstract

The mechanical behaviour of polymer scaffolds plays a vital role in their successful use in bone tissue engineering. The present study utilised novel sintered polymer scaffolds prepared using temperature-sensitive poly(DL-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid)/poly(ethylene glycol) particles. The microstructure of these scaffolds was monitored under compressive strain by image-guided failure assessment (IGFA), which combined synchrotron radiation computed tomography (SR CT) and in situ micro-compression. Three-dimensional CT data sets of scaffolds subjected to a strain rate of 0.01%/s illustrated particle movement within the scaffolds with no deformation or cracking. When compressed using a higher strain rate of 0.02%/s particle movement was more pronounced and cracks between sintered particles were observed. The results from this study demonstrate that IGFA based on simultaneous SR CT imaging and micro-compression testing is a useful tool for assessing structural and mechanical scaffold properties, leading to further insight into structure–function relationships in scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications.

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Contributors

Author: Philipp Schneider

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