Cell proliferation in a network model of tissue engineering scaffolds

Tissue engineering scaffolds are highly interconnected porous media that provide a framework for in vitro tissue growth. Extensive modeling efforts have explored the influence of various factors on cell proliferation within these scaffolds; examples include pore geometry, nutrient flow rate, nutrient concentration, cell hunger, scaffold elasticity, and shear stress at the pore wall. However, most existing models adopt either overly-coarse or overly-localized representations of the scaffold: they focus either on macroscopic trends across the entire scaffold or on microscopic dynamics within a single pore. Such approaches neglect the complex, interconnected architecture of the extracellular matrix. In this work, we address this gap by employing graph theory, visualizing the scaffold as a network of vertices and edges. Our objectives are threefold: (i) to simulate tissue growth within such networked environments, (ii) to conduct large-scale simulations across thousands of randomly generated networks, and (iii) to identify the structural features of networks that promote tissue growth, ultimately informing the design of optimized scaffolds. The results of this study aim to facilitate the development of effective tissue engineering strategies while reducing reliance on costly and time-consuming experimental approaches.