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Electrical stimulation for cartilage tissue engineering - A critical review from an engineer's perspective
Julius Zimmermann1, Abdul Razzaq Farooqi1,2, Ursula van Rienen1,3,4
1Institute of General Electrical Engineering, University of Rostock, 18051 Rostock, Germany.
Heliyon
|October 17, 2024
Summary
Electrical stimulation shows promise for osteoarthritis treatment but lacks clinical application due to technical and mechanistic challenges. This review summarizes existing studies and proposes methods for replicable experiments and understanding the biophysics of cartilage repair.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Regenerative Medicine
- Osteoarthritis Research
Background:
- Cartilage possesses limited self-repair capabilities, making cartilage degradation and lesions a significant clinical issue, especially in aging populations.
- Osteoarthritis affects a large portion of the population, necessitating advanced repair and tissue engineering strategies for hyaline articular cartilage.
- Electrical stimulation has been explored for over 50 years for cartilage repair, yet no established clinical therapies for osteoarthritis exist.
Purpose of the Study:
- To address the lack of replicable electrical stimulation devices and clear biophysical mechanisms hindering clinical application for osteoarthritis.
- To summarize existing electrical stimulation studies in cartilage tissue engineering, focusing on technical details.
- To propose experimental and numerical approaches for enhancing the replicability of electrical stimulation experiments and review relevant biophysical hypotheses.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of electrical stimulation studies in cartilage tissue engineering.
- Discussion of experimental and numerical methodologies for improving study replicability.
- Review of biophysical hypotheses concerning electric field-cell interactions in cartilage tissue engineering.
Main Results:
- A summary of technical details from past electrical stimulation studies in cartilage tissue engineering.
- A proposed framework for making electrical stimulation experiments more replicable.
- A review of biophysical mechanisms relevant to electric field interactions with cells for cartilage repair.
Conclusions:
- The lack of technical replicability and mechanistic understanding impedes the clinical translation of electrical stimulation for osteoarthritis.
- Standardized methodologies and further investigation into biophysical mechanisms are crucial for developing effective electrical stimulation therapies.
- This work aims to guide future research towards enabling clinical electrical stimulation therapies for osteoarthritis treatment.
