Electric field stimulation for tissue engineering applications

Christina N M Ryan^{1

2}, Meletios N Doulgkeroglou^{1

2}, Dimitrios I Zeugolis^{3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Regenerative, Modular & Developmental Engineering Laboratory (REMODEL), National University of Ireland Galway & USI, Galway, Ireland.
² Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM), National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.
³ Regenerative, Modular & Developmental Engineering Laboratory (REMODEL), National University of Ireland Galway & USI, Galway, Ireland. dimitrios.zeugolis@usi.ch.
⁴ Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM), National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland. dimitrios.zeugolis@usi.ch.
⁵ Regenerative, Modular & Developmental Engineering Laboratory (REMODEL), Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), Lugano, Switzerland. dimitrios.zeugolis@usi.ch.

PMID: 33397515
PMCID: PMC7784019
DOI: 10.1186/s42490-020-00046-0

Review

Electric field stimulation for tissue engineering applications

Christina N M Ryan et al. BMC Biomed Eng. 2021.

. 2021 Jan 5;3(1):1.

doi: 10.1186/s42490-020-00046-0.

Authors

Christina N M Ryan^{1

2}, Meletios N Doulgkeroglou^{1

2}, Dimitrios I Zeugolis^{3

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Regenerative, Modular & Developmental Engineering Laboratory (REMODEL), National University of Ireland Galway & USI, Galway, Ireland.
² Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM), National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.
³ Regenerative, Modular & Developmental Engineering Laboratory (REMODEL), National University of Ireland Galway & USI, Galway, Ireland. dimitrios.zeugolis@usi.ch.
⁴ Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM), National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland. dimitrios.zeugolis@usi.ch.
⁵ Regenerative, Modular & Developmental Engineering Laboratory (REMODEL), Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), Lugano, Switzerland. dimitrios.zeugolis@usi.ch.

PMID: 33397515
PMCID: PMC7784019
DOI: 10.1186/s42490-020-00046-0

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.

Keywords: Biophysical cues; Cell stimulation; Electric field; Galvanotaxis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Schematic illustration of various galvanotaxis setups. a The simplest setup. b The most common setup. c Parallel setup that allows multiple experiment simultaneously. d Multifactorial setup that allows simultaneous application of electric field stimulation and mechanical loading. e Miniaturised, closed system microfluidic setup

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Electric field stimulation for tissue engineering applications

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Electric field stimulation for tissue engineering applications

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Conflict of interest statement

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