Optimization of bone scaffold structures using experimental and numerical data

Optimization of bone scaffold structures is performed on the basis of homogenized orthotropic elastic properties of trabecular bone tissue and three-scale numerical model. The orthotropic effective material properties are calculated using a finite element method numerical model of bone microstructure with numerical homogenization algorithm and serve as a template of surgically removed bone tissue. The evolutionary algorithm is used to optimize patient-specific, periodic structure of the bone scaffold, possessing parameters similar to the removed bone and so allowing the bone tissue to heal and rebuild faster. The proposed methodology can be used to design bone scaffolds manufactured from biodegradable biopolymers using fused deposition modeling methods.