Effect of mechanical stimulation on the degradation of poly(lactic acid) scaffolds with different designed structures

Biodegradability is one of the required scaffold functions for bone tissue engineering, and it is influenced by the mechanical micro-environment after scaffold implantation into body. This paper aimed to develop a mathematical model to numerically study the mechanical impact on the degradation of poly (lactic acid) (PLA) scaffolds with different designed structures. In addition, the diffusion-governed autocatalysis on the scaffold degradation was also included, and the scaffold collapse time by an author-developed algorithm was determined. The results showed that an increase in mechanical stimulation led to an increase in the scaffold degradation rate. Moreover, different structures with a similar porosity shared a degradation tendency but had different collapse times, which was very sensitive to the diffusion coefficient of the scaffold. The present study could be helpful to understand the dynamic degradation process of PLA scaffolds, and guide the design of PLA material and scaffold structure. It may be also used as a tool for the evaluation of the in vitro and in vivo degradation performance of scaffolds.