Skin-to-Muscle Deep Tissue Stimulation System for Muscle Atrophy

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine
• Materials Science

Background:

• Muscle atrophy affects 40% of older adults, impairing daily activities.
• Current treatments face challenges with drug side effects, deep tissue delivery, and device limitations.
• Existing therapeutic devices often require wired connections or external batteries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel system for effective muscle atrophy treatment.
• To overcome limitations of current transdermal drug delivery and electrostimulation methods.
• To demonstrate a synergistic approach combining electrostimulation and targeted drug release.

Main Methods:

• Development of a body-coupled on-target stimulation (BOOST) system for wireless, battery-free electrostimulation.
• Integration with an active releasing muscle stimulation (ARMS) hydrogel for electroactive drug release.
• Utilizing tissue capacitance for in-body field amplification to target deep muscle layers.

Main Results:

• The BOOST system achieved battery-free, wireless electrostimulation and simultaneous drug delivery.
• The system enabled targeted electric field generation for deep-tissue drug penetration.
• Combined electrostimulation and dexamethasone phosphate delivery effectively restored muscle cells damaged by oxidative stress.

Conclusions:

• The BOOST system and ARMS hydrogel offer a synergistic and effective solution for muscle atrophy.
• This technology enables efficient transdermal-to-muscle delivery of therapeutics.
• The approach holds promise for treating age-related muscle degeneration and related conditions.