In vivo growth plate stimulation in various capacitively coupled electrical fields

The right proximal tibial growth plates of adolescent New Zealand white rabbits were stimulated with various capacitively coupled electrical fields. Capacitor plates attached to plastic jigs placed over the proximal tibiae were connected to function generators which supplied sine wave signals of 60 kHz frequency and various voltages (2.5, 5, 10, and 20 V peak-to-peak). At 0 h and at 48 h, each animal was labeled with intravenously injected oxytetracycline. For the next 48 h, each right proximal tibial growth plate was stimulated with one of the above electrical signals. At the end of the 48 h of stimulation, the animals were sacrificed, and the tibiae were excised; histological sections of the proximal growth plate in each tibia were made, and the distance the labels moved away from the bone-cartilage junction down into the metaphysis was measured under fluorescent microscopy. Results indicate that the rabbit growth plate can be consistently stimulated to statistically significant accelerated growth in a capacitively coupled electrical field. A dose-response effect was noted, with 5 V peak-to-peak exhibiting maximum growth acceleration. Thus, the application of the proper capacitively coupled electrical field significantly stimulated the rabbit growth plate at voltage and current levels that are safe for human use.