Structural Performance Analysis of Hydroxyapatite Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

The development of hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds for tissue regeneration, particularly for bone regeneration, is an alternative to treat bone defects due to cancer, other diseases or trauma. Although the hydroxyapatite has been widely studied in the literature, there are still some disparities regarding its mechanical performance. This paper presents the analysis of the structural performance of hydroxyapatite scaffolds based on experimental tests and numerical simulations. HA scaffolds with variable porosity were fabricated by the water soluble polymer method, using the Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) as pore former. These scaffolds were then characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), stereo microscope and X ray diffraction (XRD). Different porous structures models were considered and analyzed by the finite element method (FEM). Compressive tests were carried out and used to validate the proposed numerical models. Also a theoretical analysis based on the Gibson and Ashby [1] model was performed. Finally the experimental, numerical and theoretical results were compared and the results show that the proposed numerical and theoretical models can be used to predict, with adequate accuracy, the mechanical behavior of HA scaffolds for different porosity values.