Fluid Flow Analysis of Integrated Porous Bone Scaffold and Cancellous Bone at Different Skeletal Sites: In Silico Study

The dynamic characteristic of bone is its ability to remodel itself through mechanobiological responses. Bone regeneration is triggered by mechanical cues from physiological activities that generate structural strain and cause bone marrow movement. This phenomenon is crucial for bone scaffold when implanted in the cancellous bone as host tissue. Often, the fluid movement of bone scaffold and cancellous bone is studied separately, which does not represent the actual environment once implanted. In the present study, the fluid flow analysis properties of bone scaffold integrated into the cancellous bone at different skeletal sites are investigated. Three types of porous bone scaffolds categorized based on pore size configurations: 1 mm, 0.8 mm and hybrid (0.8 mm interlaced with 0.5 mm) were used. Three different skeletal sites of femoral bone were selected: neck, lateral condyle and medial condyle. Computational fluid dynamics was utilized to analyze the fluid flow properties of bone scaffold integrated cancellous bone. The results of this study reveal that the localization and maximum value of shear stress in an independent bone scaffold are significantly different compared to the bone scaffold integrated with cancellous bone by about 160% to 448% percentage difference. Low shear stress and high permeability were found across models that have higher Tb.Sp (trabecular separation). Specimen C and femoral lateral condyle showed the highest permeability in their respective category.

     

Syntheses and polymerizations of some vinyl monomers containing nitro- or fluorophthalimides

4-Nitro-N-vinylphthalimide ( 4 ) was synthesized by two different procedures. Compound 4 was not polymerizable or copolymerizable by AIBN. Poly(N-vinylphthalimide) ( 17 ) was prepared and partially nitrated at 10–25°C. N,N′-(1,2-Ethanediyl)bis(4-nitrophthalimide) ( 15 ) and N,N′-(1,3-propanediyl)bis(4-nitrophthalimide) ( 16 ) were prepared by the condensation of the corresponding diamine with phthalic anhydride followed by nitration of the condensation products. 4-Nitrophthalic anhydride was prepared by the hydrolysis of 15 . Four styrene-substituted phthalimide monomers were synthesized. These include N-(4-vinylphenyl)phthalimide ( 25a ), N-(4-vinylphenyl)-3-fluorophthalimide ( 25b ), N-(4-vinylphenyl)-3-nitrophthalimide ( 25c ), and N-(4-vinylphenyl)-4-nitrophthalimide ( 25d ). Monomers 25a and 25b were polymerized by freeradical initiator (AIBN), whereas monomers 25c and 25d were not polymerizable or copolymerizable by AIBN due to a strong inhibitive effect exerted by the nitrophthalimide group. Monomers 25c and 25d were cationically polymerized (BF₃·OEt₂). Monomer 25b and styrene were copolymerized and their reactivity ratios were r₁ = 1.7 and r₂ = 0.55, respectively. The prepared polymers are useful as backbone polymers for grafting living anionic polymers.