Authors:
William Solórzano-Requejo
;
Carlos Aguilar
;
Gabriel Callejo
and
Andrés Díaz Lantada
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, ETSI Industriales, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, c/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Keyword(s):
Biodegradable Medical Devices, Biodegradable Materials, Degradation Modelling, Simulation of Medical Devices, Cellular Automata.
Abstract:
This innovative study introduces a comprehensive methodology to simulate the two-dimensional degradation of biodegradable materials, a crucial aspect in biodevice design. Several PVA specimens of diverse shapes were created, and their degradation was computationally modelled using cellular automaton. Deterministic and probabilistic transition rules were explored to identify the most accurate in the simulation of PVA degradation. The results highlight the effectiveness of the probabilistic exponential rule, derived from Markov Chains, for reliable degradation simulation. Furthermore, this approach was successfully applied to the analysis of specific medical devices, enabling a detailed in silico assessment of degradation patterns in coronary stents, tissue engineering scaffolds and craniosynostosis implants. This methodology deepens our fundamental understanding of degradation and provides valuable information for engineers and medical professionals, facilitating the creation of devic
es that integrate optimally with surrounding biological tissues.
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