Mechanical interaction between cells and fluid for bone tissue engineering scaffold: modulation of the interfacial...

An analytical model of the fluid/cell mechanical interaction was developed. The interfacial shear stress, due to the coupling between the fluid and the cell deformation, was characterized by a new dimensionless number N(fs). For N(fs) above a critical value, the fluid/cell interaction had a damping effect on the interfacial shear stress. Conversely, for N(fs) below this critical value, interfacial shear stress was amplified. As illustration, the role of the dynamic fluid/cell mechanical coupling was studied in a specific biological situation involving cells seeded in a bone scaffold. For the particular bone scaffold chosen, the dimensionless number N(fs) was higher than the critical value. In this case, the dynamic shear stress at the fluid/cell interface is damped for increasing excitation frequency. Interestingly, this damping effect is correlated to the pore diameter of the scaffold, furnishing thus target values in the design of the scaffold. Correspondingly, an efficient cell stimulation might be achieved with a scaffold of pore size larger than 300 microm as no dynamic damping effect is likely to take place. The analytical model proposed in this study, while being a simplification of a fluid/cell mechanical interaction, brings complementary insights to numerical studies by analyzing the effect of different physical parameters.