Development of scaffold for use in osteochondral tissue engineering

In this study, the bone component of a bi-phasic scaffold was developed and mechanically tested to compare it to that of subchondral bone properties. The bone component was composed of poly (ε-caprolactone):poly (ethylene oxide):sucrose (PCL:PEO:sucrose) that exhibited both pore size and porosity similar to that of cancellous bone, thereby providing a similar mechanical structure for the osteoblasts to differentiate and grow. The compressive Young's Modulus values ranged from 22.15 - 16.64 MPa, similar to that of literature values for subchondral bone [1]. Additionally, pore size was measured to be approximately 143 μm, based on SEM imaging. An initial cell study was done to confirm the cell viability of each of the components of the bi-phasic scaffold, independently. Future experiments will focus on developing and testing the complete bi-phasic scaffold through compression testing, as well as undergoing a cell study utilizing rat mesenchymal stem cells to observe the proliferation and differentiation within the bi-phasic scaffold for osteochondral tissue engineering.