Glucose diffusivity in cell-seeded tissue engineering scaffolds.

Objective: To determine the effective glucose diffusion coefficient in cell-seeded porous scaffolds to understand the importance of nutrient diffusion in tissue engineering bioreactors. Results: Cell growth changed the morphological structure of the scaffolds decreasing the effective pore space and, inevitably, decreasing the effective glucose diffusivity in the chosen scaffolds, namely, collagen, poly(L-lactide) and poly(caprolactone) scaffolds from 3.7 × 10 to 3.2 × 10 m/s, 1.4 × 10 to 9.1 × 10 m/s and 1.8 × 10 to 1.3 × 10 m/s, respectively. Conclusions: The presence of cells over time during cell culture reduces the mobility of glucose. The results can predict the glucose concentration profiles in thick engineered tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]