Executive Summary : | Exogenous electrical stimuli play a crucial role in guiding cellular activities during native tissue regeneration and healing processes. For example, piezoelectric natural bone generates endogenous electrical stimuli due to natural mechano-electric transduction within bone tissues, regulating cellular activities and bone remodeling. However, these electrical stimuli may not be present at diseased or defect sites. A novel non-invasive magneto-acoustic-based therapeutic approach is proposed, using low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) and static magnetic field (SMF) to generate non-invasive in-situ electro-mechanical stimuli to tailor cellular activities for delayed and non-union fracture healing. The synergy between in-situ electrical field and mechanical stress is believed to modulate several bone cell activities, including cell cycle, transmembrane signals, expression of essential growth factors, and bone tissue regeneration. Preliminary in vitro experiments using LIPUS+SMF treatment showed enhanced viability and proliferation of fibroblast and osteoblast cells. The amount of in-situ electro-mechanical stimuli was calculated to reach up to 23 uV/cm and 22 kPa, respectively, by tailoring the treatment conditions. The primary goal of this project is to design, optimize, and understand the role of in-situ electro-mechanical stimuli in accelerating bone tissue repair and regeneration. The project focuses on accelerating bone regeneration using bone cells and human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells in vitro cell culture models. |