Tendon tissue engineering aims to grow functional tissue in the lab. Tissue is grown inside a bioreactor which controls both the mechanical and biochemical environment. As tendon cells alter their behaviour in response to mechanical stresses, designing suitable bioreactor loading regimes forms a key component in ensuring healthy tissue growth.
Linking the forces imposed by the bioreactor to the shear stress experienced by individual cell is achieved by homogenisation using multiscale asymptotics. We will present a continuum model capturing fluid-structure interaction between the nutrient media and the fibrous scaffold where cells grow. Solutions reflecting different experimental conditions will be discussed in view of the implications for shear stress distribution experienced by cells across the bioreactor.