In-vitro and in-vivo investigations on electric stimulation of bone tissue

Electric stimulation of bone is a promising approach to improve bone regeneration in clinical conditions like avascular femoral head necrosis or non-healing fractures. Several in vitro studies have shown beneficial effects of electrostimulation on osteoblast proliferation and differentiation as well as bone matrix synthesis and mineralization. As former studies differ in the applied type of electric stimulation, investigated cells and stimulation parameters, it is difficult to extract optimal stimulation parameters. Therefore, the aim of this work is to do an extended study of different stimulation parameters, including stimulation time and applied electric field strength, in a newly-designed in-vitro system that enables electric stimulation of bone cells seeded on both, the electrode surface mimicking the cell-implant interaction, and the chamber bottom, to evaluate remote effects of electric stimulation. Furthermore, influence of electric stimulation on bone regeneration will be verified in-vivo in a rabbit model.

• Design of a novel in-vitro system for electric stimulation
• Characterization of electric stimulation effects on human osteoblasts and identification of optimum stimulation parameters
• Verification of electric stimulation effects on bone regeneration in a rabbit model

A novel in-vitro system for electric stimulation of cells with AC voltage was designed. Numeric simulation of electric field was created and validated within in-vitro system. First results show voltage-dependent expression of osteogenesis-related genes in human osteoblasts. Electric stimulation in a rabbit model was conducted and is currently evaluated.

Reviewed paper important congresses:

• ZIEBART, J., DAUBEN, T., JONITZ-HEINCKE, J., MITTELMEIER, W., PODBIELSKI, A., KREIKEMEYER, B. and BADER, R., 2015. A novel in vitro system for the analysis of electrical stimulation on human osteoblasts and bacteria (abstract), IBI, Warnemünde, Germany, May 14.-15.
• DAUBEN, T., ZIEBART, J., BADER, R. and KREIKEMEYER, B., 2015. Introduction of a novel in vitro system for electrical stimulation of bacteria (abstract), 49th Deutsche Gesellschaft für Biomedizinische Technik, Jahrestagung, Hannover, Germany, September 16.-18.
• HIEMER, B., ZIEBART, J., JONITZ-HEINCKE, J., GRUNERT, PC., SU, Y., HANSMANN, D. and BADER, R, 2015. Magnetically induced electrostimulation of human osteoblasts results in an enhanced cell viability and osteogenic differentiation (abstract), 49th Deutsche Gesellschaft für Biomedizinische Technik, Jahrestagung, Hannover, Germany, September 16.-18.
• ZIEBART, J., DAUBEN, T., SU, Y., JONITZ-HEINECKE, A., WEIßMANN, V., KREIKEMEYER, B., NEBE, B. and BADER, R., 2015. Establishment of a novel in vitro system  for electric stimulation of human osteoblasts (abstract), 49th Deutsche Gesellschaft für Biomedizinische Technik, Jahrestagung, Hannover, Germany, September 16.-18.
• ZIEBART, J., HIEMER, B., JONITZ-HEINCKE, A., SU, Y., PASOLD, J., BRAND, M., LAUSCH, H., HANSMANN, D. and BADER, R., 2014. Comparison between electromagnetic and electrical stimulation on human osteoblasts in vitro (abstract), 48th Deutsche Gesellschaft für Biomedizinische Technik (DGBMT) Jahrestagung, Hannover, Germany, October 8.-10.

• Prof. Dr. R. Bader
• Prof. Dr. Barbara Nebe