Multi-objective optimization design of biomimetic porous scaffolds based on cancellous bone structure
摘要
As age advances, accumulation of bone regeneration inhibitors in osteoporotic patients increases, resulting in larger bone defect areas and varying degrees of defects. When studying bone regeneration in osteoporotic bone defects, researchers often lack specificity on different bone quality statuses. To design a porous scaffold more similar to cancellous bone to promote bone regeneration, a multi-objective optimization design of biomimetic porous scaffold based on cancellous bone images was carried out in this study. Vertebral cancellous bones from rats with different bone quality statuses caused by various ovariectomy durations served as examples. First, the microstructure, mechanical and biological properties parameters of vertebral cancellous bones were calculated based on images from 20-, 30-, and 38-week-old rats without ovariectomy and 30- and 38-week-old rats with ovariectomy (10 weeks and 18 weeks after ovariectomy). Second, the effects of constant value (C), which affects scaffold thickness, scale factor of z-axis (N), influencing stretching and compression of unit cell, and unit cell size (L) on the mechanical and biological properties of Schoen Gyroid and Schoen I-WP were investigated. Third, Schoen Gyroid and Schoen I-WP were optimized and evaluated using non-dominated genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) and complex proportional assessment method, with the elastic modulus of cancellous bones from 30- and 38-week-old ovariectomized rats as performance constraint to obtain the best structure tailored to each ovariectomized group. The surface curvature of the scaffold could be changed by stretching or compressing the unit cell, and the pore size could be changed by altering the unit cell thickness and size to obtain scaffolds suitable for different extents of bone defects. The optimized scaffolds met mechanical and biological requirements. Schoen I-WP exhibited superior comprehensive performance compared to Schoen Gyroid. The optimized design framework proposed in this study can be applied to bone defects of any age, bone site, and bone quality status, and has potential application for personalized treatment of bone defects.