Numerical simulation of global hydro-dynamics in a pulsatile bioreactor for cardiovascular tissue engineering

Previous numerical simulations of the hydro-dynamic response in the various bioreactor designs were mostly concentrated on the local flow field analysis using computational fluid dynamics, which cannot provide the global hydro-dynamics information to assist the bioreactor design. In this research, a mathematical model is developed to simulate the global hydro-dynamic changes in a pulsatile bioreactor design by considering the flow resistance, the elasticity of the vessel and the inertial effect of the media fluid in different parts of the system. The developed model is used to study the system dynamic response in a typical pulsatile bioreactor design for the culturing of cardiovascular tissues. Simulation results reveal the detailed pressure and flow-rate changes in the different positions of the bioreactor, which are very useful for the evaluation of hydro-dynamic performance in the bioreactor designed. Typical pressure and flow-rate changes simulated agree well with the published experimental data, thus validates the mathematical model developed. The proposed mathematical model can be used for design optimization of other pulsatile bioreactors that work under different experimental conditions and have different system configurations.