Elisabeth Lange

Master student

Electrical stimulation of bone cells

 

Supervisors: Thomas Kreller, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Current studies show that electrical stimulation (ES) influences cellular functions like cell differentiation, proliferation, migration, and alignment. Thus, ES could be used to affect the characteristics of in vitro cell culture [1]. This study aims to investigate the influence of ES on the differentiation and proliferation of cells relevant for bone regeneration. Initially, cells are seeded on biomaterial substrates. These substrates are coated with hydroxyapatite via immersion in simulated body fluid to mimic natural bone tissue [2]. Simultaneously an alternating electric field is applied. The most influential stimulation parameters on cell differentiation and proliferation are determined via a statistical design of experiments approach.

[1]    C. Chen, X. Bai, Y. Ding, and I.-S. Lee, “Electrical stimulation as a novel tool for regulating cell behavior in tissue engineering,” Biomaterials research, vol. 23, p. 25, 2019, doi: 10.1186/s40824-019-0176-8.

[2]    T. Kokubo and H. Takadama, “How useful is SBF in predicting in vivo bone bioactivity?,” Biomaterials, vol. 27, no. 15, pp. 2907–2915, 2006, doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2006.01.017.