Design and Simulation of Computational Models of Hybrid Scaffolds Representative of Subchondral Bone and Hyaline Cartilage

Tissue engineering offers alternatives when it comes to health problems such as trauma or pathologies. One of them is the scaffolds, which provide a favorable architecture, mechanics, and biocompatibility for the fixation of cells. Therefore, the following research aims to design and simulate scaffolds with mixed geometric structures to create a hybrid architecture for osseointegration while maintaining structural properties similar to subchondral bone and hyaline cartilage. Three scaffolds were designed for this purpose, with mixed geometric shapes inside: squares for trabecular bone, hexagons for subchondral bone, and octagons for hyaline cartilage, each with a specific pore size according to the architecture and biomechanics of each tissue. SolidWorks computer-aided design software to design unit cells for each particular tissue, followed by the Ansys Workbench integrated simulation platform to simulate the loads produced by an average-weight adult typically used in walking. We used two specific materials (Hydroxyapatite and Vitreous Humor with sodium alginate) that are part of the hydrogel for its possible future use in the 3D printing of these models. Different results were obtained from the models presented. Still, the truncated pore and gradual pore models were found to be close to the actual parameters for subchondral bone and cartilage, respectively, giving Young's modulus of 1049.5124 MPa in the subchondral bone region and 9.4086 MPa in the cartilage region. Therefore, we concluded that combining the architectures of these two models into one offered the possibility of creating a scaffold capable of mimicking the osteochondral complex.