Efficacy of bone stimulators in large-animal models and humans may be limited by weak electric fields reaching fracture.

ABSTRACT: Noninvasive electronic bone growth stimulators (EBGSs) have been in clinical use for decades. However, systematic reviews show inconsistent and limited clinical efficacy. Further, noninvasive EBGS studies in small animals, where the stimulation electrode is closer to the fracture site, have shown promising efficacy, which has not translated to large animals or humans. We propose that this is due to the weaker electric fields reaching the fracture site when scaling from small animals to large animals and humans. To address this gap, we measured the electric field strength reaching the bone during noninvasive EBGS therapy in human and sheep cadaver legs and in finite element method (FEM) models of human and sheep legs. During application of 1100 V/m with an external EBGS, only 21 V/m reached

SUBMITTER: Verma N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9758190 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature