Fatigue prediction in fibrin poly-ε-caprolactone macroporous scaffolds

Tissue engineering applications rely on scaffolds that during its service life, either for in-vivo or in vitro applications, are under loading. The variation of the mechanical condition of the scaffold is strongly relevant for cell culture and has scarcely been addressed. The fatigue life cycle of poly-ε-caprolactone, PCL, scaffolds with and without fibrin as filler of the pore structure were characterized both dry and immersed in liquid water. It is observed that the there is a strong increase from 100 to 500 in the number of loading cycles before collapse in the samples tested in immersed conditions due to the more uniform stress distributions within the samples, the fibrin loading playing a minor role in the mechanical performance of the scaffolds. [Display omitted] •Fatigue life cycle of poly-ε-caprolactone scaffolds has been investigated.•Scaffolds with and without fibrin were characterized in dry and immersed conditions.•Scaffold collapse occurs after 100 loading cycles in dry samples.•Scaffold collapse occurs after 500 loading cycles in water immersed samples.•Fibrin loading plays a minor role in the mechanical performance of the scaffolds.