Functional Grading of PLGA Nanofiber Scaffolds for Tendon-to-Bone Insertion Tissue Engineering

Stress concentrations often develop at the interfaces of dissimilar materials. Effective attachments can be achieved by incorporating functional gradients in mechanical properties to avoid damaging stress concentrations. Interfaces between biologic materials utilize these gradients to produce robust damage-resistant attachments. For example, the attachment of dissimilar materials, tendon (modulus of ∼200MPa) and bone (modulus of ∼20GPa), is required to transmit force from muscles to the skeleton. This tendon-to-bone attachment is achieved through a linear gradient in mineral content and changes in collagen orientation [1].