Specific tissues, such as cartilage, undergo mechanical solicitation under their normal performance in human body. In this sense, it seems necessary that proper tissue engineering strategies of these tissues should incorporate mechanical solicitations during cell culture, in order to properly evaluate the influence of the mechanical stimulus. This work reports on a user-friendly bioreactor suitable for applying controlled mechanical stimulation--amplitude and frequency--to three-dimensional scaffolds. Its design and main components are described, as well as its operation characteristics. The modular design allows easy cleaning and operating under laminar hood. Different protocols for the sterilization of the hermetic enclosure are tested and ensure lack of observable contaminations, complying with the requirements to be used for cell culture. The cell viability study was performed with KUM5 cells.

The kinetics of the isothermal crystallization of the γ-phase Poly(vinylidene fluoride) has been investigated. Samples were prepared from the melt at different crystallisation temperatures and the variation of the microstructure of the samples was monitored with time by optical microscopy. Raman and Infrared transmission spectroscopies also show the appearance of the γ-phase for higher crystallisation temperatures. Two types of γ-phase spherulites have been identified. These spherulites represents different ways to obtain the γ-phase and show different thermal stability. The correlation between microstructure and kinetic parameters allows the tailoring of the microstructure by choosing the crystallisation conditions of the samples.

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