Glucose diffusivity in cell-seeded tissue engineering scaffolds

To determine the effective glucose diffusion coefficient in cell-seeded porous scaffolds to understand the importance of nutrient diffusion in tissue engineering bioreactors. Cell growth changed the morphological structure of the scaffolds decreasing the effective pore space and, inevitably, decreasing the effective glucose diffusivity in the chosen scaffolds, namely, collagen, poly(L-lactide) and poly(caprolactone) scaffolds from 3.7 x 10(-9) to 3.2 x 10(-9) m(2)/s, 1.4 x 10(-10) to 9.1 x 10(-11) m(2)/s and 1.8 x 10(-10) to 1.3 x 10(-10) m(2)/s, respectively. The presence of cells over time during cell culture reduces the mobility of glucose. The results can predict the glucose concentration profiles in thick engineered tissues.