Monday, August 28, 2023

Piezoelectric stimulation regrows cartilage to heal Osteoarthritis

 cartilage regeneration and subchondral bone regeneration after 1 or 2 months of exercise to generate piezoelectric charge from the joint loads. Although further work is needed to optimize the scaffold microstructure and components, this study provides evidence that biodegradable piezoelectric scaffolds can use joint-loading exercise to treat osteoarthritis.

https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/scitranslmed.abi7282 

 Cartilage is sensitive to electrical stimulation (ES) (15). Battery-based and bimetallic electrodes (16) have been used to generate nanoampere current to stimulate the growth of hyaline cartilage in the knees of rabbits. Electrical fields have been reported to stimulate aggrecan (ACAN) and type-II collagen (COL2A1) mRNA expression and increased proteoglycan and collagen production in human OA cartilage explants (17). Direct current has been used to stimulate cartilage repair (18), and biphasic currents have been shown to repair hyaline cartilage (19) in male rats. Because bioelectrical signals are ubiquitous inside the body, ES can be considered a source for promoting tissue regeneration (2022). However, current devices used for ES by either direct current contact or capacitive coupling have limitations, such as high infection rates, the potential for a painful implant, and the stresses associated with operative procedures (23), rendering the electrical stimulator impractical for clinical use (24). Externally generated electromagnetic fields used as noninvasive stimulators in the knee joint are drastically attenuated (19, 25, 26). Devices directly implanted inside the joint avoid the problem of tissue absorption. However, they usually contain nonbiodegradable materials and toxic batteries that must be removed through invasive procedures that can damage healing tissues (27).

 

 

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