Electric field stimulation for tissue engineering applications

Abstract

Electric fields are involved in numerous physiological processes, including directional embryonic development and wound healing following injury. To study these processes in vitro and/or to harness electric field stimulation as a biophysical environmental cue for organised tissue engineering strategies various electric field stimulation systems have been developed. These systems are overall similar in design and have been shown to influence morphology, orientation, migration and phenotype of several different cell types. This review discusses different electric field stimulation setups and their effect on cell response.

Using a Digital Twin of an Electrical Stimulation Device to Monitor and Control the Electrical Stimulation of Cells in vitro

“…It has been promised to deliver a stimulation of 100 V m −1 at a stimulation amplitude of 2.2 V (DC) (Mobini et al, 2016). In subsequent experimental studies, this field strength has been reported (sometimes without mentioning the applied voltage) (Mobini et al, 2017;Srirussamee et al, 2019) and has thus made it into literature reviews (Thrivikraman et al, 2018;Ryan et al, 2021). However, the theoretical model presented in Srirussamee et al (2021) has predicted a current density of 0.5 A/m 2 .…”

“…Electrical stimulation has been (re-)discovered as a tool for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine ( Balint et al, 2013 ; da Silva et al, 2020 ). In recent years, the effect of electrical stimulation on various cell lines and tissues has been studied in vitro ( Funk et al, 2009 ; Balint et al, 2013 ; Jahr et al, 2015 ; Thrivikraman et al, 2018 ; Chen et al, 2019 ; da Silva et al, 2020 ; Ryan et al, 2021 ). Nevertheless, no clear picture regarding optimal stimulation parameters (field strength, stimulation voltage/current) has been developed.…”

“…Hence, in vitro experiments have been designed to elucidate possible mechanisms of cellular response to electrical stimulation ( Zhao et al, 2020 ). The ever-growing number of publications on in vitro electrical stimulation has been covered in a considerable amount of literature reviews ( Funk et al, 2009 ; Balint et al, 2013 ; Jahr et al, 2015 ; Thrivikraman et al, 2018 ; Chen et al, 2019 ; da Silva et al, 2020 ; Ryan et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Strikingly, the reported electric field strengths appear to be highly uncertain. It is an important parameter for the characterisation and quantification of in vitro electrical stimulation experiments and often used for comparison ( Thrivikraman et al, 2018 ; Ryan et al, 2021 ). Unfortunately, the field strength cannot be measured directly, but only be inferred from other measurement results ( Gundersen and Greenebaum, 1985 ).…”

Wound Healing with Electrical Stimulation Technologies: A Review

“…Concurrently, cardiac pacing was introduced for cardiac resuscitation and technology advances, including cardiac pacemaker and defibrillator [75]. Other than cardiac devices, neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in sports medicine [76], transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TENS) for chronic pain [77], electroconvulsive therapy in psychiatric disorders [78,79], and deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease [80] are included as ES. There are three common modes of ES, which are direct current (DC), pulsed current (PC), and alternating current (AC).…”