Design and analysis of tissue engineering scaffolds based on open porous non-stochastic cells

In orthopaedics, cellular structures can be used as three-dimensional porous biomaterials that try to mimic the characteristics and function of the bone. The progress in manufacturing techniques, mainly in the field of additive manufacturing, can potentially allow the production of highly controlled pore architectures and customized implants that, however, need more sophisticated design methodologies. In this paper, the design of porous biocompatible structures based on mathematically defined surfaces (triply periodic minimal surfaces) has been considered in respect of the approach that considers unit cells entirely modelled in CAD environment. Two types of unit cell have been here considered: the cubic and the P-cell. The cubic cell is created by a 3D CAD s/w from solid features that are combined together. The P-cell is modelled using an implicit function to describe the outer surface of the cell. Two are the design parameters of the P-cell: thickness and radius. The variation of these parameters allows modifying the architecture of the basic unit of the scaffold. The modification of the radius is carried out by a procedure, based on scaling and truncation operations. The thickness of the cell is modified by thickening and closure operations on the P-isosurface. The effect of these variations on the mechanical behaviour of the scaffold has been numerically evaluated by the estimation of the stiffness of each structure considered. The results demonstrated the huge potentiality of the method and stiffness values compatible with those required for biomechanical applications.