Natural tissues such as bone, ligaments, blood vessels and cardiac muscle are subjected to various mechanical loads during development and maintenance.Thus, cell-scaffold constructs for tissue engineering or biodegradable implants for use in regenerative medicine are subject to different mechanical environments in vivo.To optimize materials for use in in-vitro tissue engineering the physical environmental conditions that these tissues experience in the body have been simulated by exerting mechanical stimuli, in order to enhance the rate and functions of tissue formation.A number of bioreactors have been employed to provide suitable mechanical stimuli to direct the development, growth and maintenance of cell-scaffold constructs.Scaffolds, as an important element in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, should provide an environment with the appropriate pore structure and mechanical properties.When cell-scaffold constructs are cultured in vitro under a mechanical stimulus in a bioreactor or implanted in vivo under mechanical load, a mechanical load is also applied to the scaffold.The optimal degradation rate of the scaffold is expected to match the rate of new tissue formation.Both too fast and too slow degradation rates will have deleterious effects on tissue engineering therapy.Thus, it is of vital importance to elucidate the effect of mechanical load on the process of degradation of scaffolds.