Model of dissolution in the framework of tissue engineering and drug delivery

• Published in: Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology Vol. 17; no. 5; pp. 1331 - 1341
• Main Authors: Sanz-Herrera, J. A., Soria, L., Reina-Romo, E., Torres, Y., Boccaccini, A. R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bicarbonates - chemistry; Biological and Medical Physics; Biomaterials; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Biomedical materials; Biophysics; Computer Simulation; Design engineering; Dissolution; Drug delivery; Drug delivery systems; Drug Delivery Systems - methods; Drug development; Engineering; Finite element method; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Mathematical models; Models, Theoretical; Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted; Original Paper; Parametric analysis; Porosity; Powders; Space life sciences; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Tissue engineering; Tissue Engineering - methods; Reaction–diffusion equations; Drug delivery; Tissue engineering; Dissolution; Computational simulation
• ISSN: 1617-7959; 1617-7940
• DOI: 10.1007/s10237-018-1029-4

Dissolution phenomena are ubiquitously present in biomaterials in many different fields. Despite the advantages of simulation-based design of biomaterials in medical applications, additional efforts are needed to derive reliable models which describe the process of dissolution. A phenomenologically based model, available for simulation of dissolution in biomaterials, is introduced in this paper. The model turns into a set of reaction–diffusion equations implemented in a finite element numerical framework. First, a parametric analysis is conducted in order to explore the role of model parameters on the overall dissolution process. Then, the model is calibrated and validated versus a straightforward but rigorous experimental setup. Results show that the mathematical model macroscopically reproduces the main physicochemical phenomena that take place in the tests, corroborating its usefulness for design of biomaterials in the tissue engineering and drug delivery research areas.