Fig. 2
(A1) Mechanobiological regulation by Prendergast et al.3. (A2) Modified (smoothed) mechanobiological regulation criteria for tissue differentiation in rats. (A3) Reaction diagram showing the rates of differentiation between MSCs, fibroblasts, chondrocytes, and osteoblasts, labeled with corresponding rate constants Fi=1,0.7. (B) Blood regulation functions (fi=1,3,4, f2) showing the dependencies of cell differentiation rates to blood vessel density. (C1) 2D Finite element model of rat femur for biomechanical analysis modeled femoral shaft as a hollow cylinder with specifications derived from µCT scans post-surgery. (C2) highlights the refined mesh around the fracture site and mesh convergence analysis for each region separately. (C3) Force and boundary conditions contain mechanical (axial load and fixed screws) and physiological (cell concentrations) used for separate phases of the simulation. (D) Schematic representation of the algorithm used for cell differentiation influenced by angiogenesis and mechanical stimulus. A closer look into simulation of tissue differentiation and vascularization in healing callus: this demonstrates the dynamic development of bone, cartilage, and fibrous tissue within the callus influenced by mechanical conditions and MSC concentration, alongside an angiogenesis model reflecting blood vessel growth regulated by strain-dependent diffusion, mirroring the oxygen supply to cells during the healing process based on work of Ganadhiepan13.
