*********************************
There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
*********************************
"Theoretical and Computational Approaches for Modeling Engineered Cartilage Growth and Optimizing Culture Conditions"
Gerard A. Ateshian, PhD
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Columbia University
Much progress has been achieved in cartilage tissue engineering over the last two decades, ranging from the identification of suitable cell sources and scaffolds, to culture conditions and timing of growth factor delivery. Today, cartilage tissue constructs can be grown to reproduce native levels of either proteoglycan or collagen content, though not both. As a result, mechanical properties of these constructs approach those of native tissue only for some subset of the desired properties, such as the equilibrium compressive modulus, but not the tensile modulus or the hydraulic permeability. The best functional properties are typically obtained with smaller constructs where the competing factors of nutrient transport and consumption are less constraining. To address the remaining challenges of engineering tissue constructs with anatomically relevant dimensions and a comprehensive range of functional properties, we have combined experimental measurements with computational modeling that accounts for critical factors that influence the outcome of tissue growth, such as nutrient and growth factor availability. This presentation describes the challenges of formulating a finite element framework for tissue growth, verifying model accuracy, informing the models with experimental data and validating them against independent experimental measurements.
