“…Combined with a poroelastic FE model that predicts the strain values and fl uid fl ow acting on the differentiating cells, this mechanobiological model has successfully predicted the patterns of tissue differentiation observed experimentally around implants . Furthermore, by using a diffusion equation that describes the spreading of the cells through a fracture callus, the model has successfully simulated the time-course of fracture healing in long and irregular (Boccaccio et al , 2007(Boccaccio et al , , 2008a(Boccaccio et al , , 2008b(Boccaccio et al , , 2011a(Boccaccio et al , , 2012Boccaccio and Pappalettere, 2011) bones. In particular, assuming c to be the concentration of the mesenchymal stem cells in a given volume, D the diffusion coeffi cient and t the time variable, the spreading of cells throughout the bone callus can be described by a simple diffusion equation: (2005) to simulate the process of repair of osteochondral defects.…”