In vivo study of the effect of composition and implantation site on scaffold degradation rateDownload PDF Download PDF ArticleOpen accessPublished: 24 July 2026Kendell M. Pawelec ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2606-41361,2,Jeremy M. L. Hix1,2,Arianna Troia1,Niharika Sinha3,4,5,6,Keith W. MacRenaris3,4,5,6,Matti Kiupel7,Thomas V. O’Halloran3,4,5,6 &…Erik M. Shapiro ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0901-57811,2,8,9,10 Communications Materials (2026) Cite this article We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.SubjectsBiomedical materialsImplantsRegenerative medicineX-ray tomographyAbstractTissue engineering devices stabilize wounds, then degrade. However, published degradation rates often conflict. Incorporating monitoring functionality into devices allows real-time assessment of degradation and failure, but requires contrast agents, as polymer devices are invisible to most medical imaging modalities. Therefore, computed tomography (CT)-visible composite scaffolds were created from 5-20 wt% tantalum oxide (TaOx) nanoparticles in polymers with distinct degradation profiles: polycaprolactone, poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) 85:15 and PLGA 50:50, representing slow, medium and fast degrading materials. Scaffolds, mimicking biomedical devices, were implanted into mice intramuscularly or intraperitoneally, and monitored via CT over 20 weeks. Scaffold degradation profile was dictated by polymer matrix, regardless of nanoparticle addition. Foreign body response was dependent on implant site and in mid-degrading composites degradation rates transitioned from linear degradation intramuscularly to exponential degradation intraperitoneally. Nanoparticle excretion via liver and spleen lagged polymer degradation. Overall, real time tracking of device behavior was demonstrated, advancing an era of personalized medicine.AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to thank the Center for Advanced Microscopy (Michigan State University) for obtaining electron microscopy images and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (MSU) for histological staining. We also thank Ethan Tu and Adam Alessio for contributing the analysis code for evaluating CT images. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.FundingThis work was funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the NIH under award number R01EB029418. The MSU Quantitative Bio Element Analysis and Mapping (QBEAM) Center is graciously supported by MSU’s Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, the Colleges of Natural Sciences, Human Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Engineering, Agricultural and Natural Resources. Additional funding is provided by the National Research Resource for Quantitative Mapping in the Life Sciences (QE-Map) by the Office of the Director, NIH and the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) under grant numbers P41 GM135018 and S10OD026786.Author informationAuthors and AffiliationsDepartment of Radiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USAKendell M. Pawelec, Jeremy M. L. Hix, Arianna Troia & Erik M. ShapiroInstitute for Quantitative Health Sciences and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USAKendell M. Pawelec, Jeremy M. L. Hix & Erik M. ShapiroElemental Health Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USANiharika Sinha, Keith W. MacRenaris & Thomas V. O’HalloranQuantitative Bio Element Analysis and Mapping (QBEAM) Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USANiharika Sinha, Keith W. MacRenaris & Thomas V. O’HalloranDepartment of Microbiology, Genetics and Immunology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USANiharika Sinha, Keith W. MacRenaris & Thomas V. O’HalloranDepartment of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USANiharika Sinha, Keith W. MacRenaris & Thomas V. O’HalloranDepartment of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USAMatti KiupelDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USAErik M. ShapiroDepartment of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USAErik M. ShapiroDepartment of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USAErik M. ShapiroAuthorsKendell M. PawelecView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarJeremy M. L. HixView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarArianna TroiaView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarNiharika SinhaView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarKeith W. MacRenarisView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarMatti KiupelView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarThomas V. O’HalloranView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarErik M. ShapiroView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarCorresponding authorsCorrespondence to Kendell M. Pawelec or Erik M. Shapiro.Ethics declarationsCompeting interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.Additional informationPublisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Supplementary informationSupplemental information (download PDF )Supplemental Information: ARRIVE checklist (download PDF )Rights and permissionsOpen Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleDownload PDF