Modelling approach in cell/material interactions studies

Based on our experiments, we propose a statistical modeling approach of the in vitro interactions between biological objects and materials. The objective of this paper is to provide basic principles for developing more ambitious experiments comparing the simultaneous influence of more than one or two parameters on various observations, taking advantage of convenient statistical and mathematical techniques for the treatment of measured data. Analyzing some examples of our own experiments, the essential features needed for modeling cell/material interaction studies are presented. Firstly, we describe the initial process of designing appropriate experiments that allow for comprehensive modeling. In the second part, we illustrate the different applications of a specific statistical modeling technique, the bootstrap protocol, on either the amplification of data, the elimination of correlation existing between measured parameters or, out of a set of parameters, identification of the most relevant parameter for further statistical analysis. Finally, based on recent statistical analysis tools such as the bootstrap, we illustrate the relative influence of biological and physical parameters in phenomenological studies of cell/material interactions. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.