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Bone bioelectricity: What have we learned in the past 160 years?
Author(s) -
Isaacson Brad M.,
Bloebaum Roy D.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.32905
Subject(s) - stimulation , materials science , piezoelectricity , biomedical engineering , bone healing , bone remodeling , biochemical engineering , extracellular matrix , neuroscience , biophysics , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , composite material , medicine , anatomy , engineering , endocrinology
The direct relationship between bone strain and electric fields has spurred continual interest in the field of bioelectricity over the past 160 years. It has been reported that stress‐generated potentials alter cell proliferation and extracellular matrix secretion. The observation that endogenous electrical signals facilitate osteoinduction has lead to high production of electrical stimulation devices to fix bone defects. Despite the reported 100,000 nonunions healed as of 1990 with electrical stimulation, skepticism due to lack of homogeneity with trial design and dosage still exists within the scientific community. It is the purpose of this review to assess the bioelectric phenomenon of bone as it applies to piezoelectricity, fracture healing, and overall changes in bone metabolism which occur with controlled electrical stimulation. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A, 2010.