Tailoring the mechanical properties of 3D-designed poly(glycerol sebacate) scaffolds for cartilage applications.

Matching tissue engineering scaffold modulus to that of native tissue is highly desirable. Effective scaffold modulus can be altered through changes in base material modulus and/or scaffold pore architecture. Because the latter may be restricted by tissue in-growth requirements, it is advantageous to be able to alter the base material modulus of a chosen scaffold material. Here, we show that the bulk modulus of poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) can be changed by varying molar ratios during prepolymer synthesis and by varying curing time. We go on to show that PGS can be used to create 3D designed scaffolds via solid freeform fabrication methods with modulus values that fall within the ranges of native articular cartilage equilibrium modulus. Furthermore, using base material modulus inputs, homogenization finite element analysis can effectively predict the tangent modulus of PGS scaffold designs, which provides a significant advantage for designing new cartilage regeneration scaffolds. Lastly, we demonstrate that this relatively new biomedical material supports cartilaginous matrix production by chondrocytes in vitro. (c) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2010.