Effects of seven days of continuous capacitive electrical stimulation on bone growth around titanium implants in the rat tibia

摘要

The effect of 7 days of continuous capacitive electrical stimulation on bone growth around titanium implants placed in the tibiae of adult male rats, was evaluated in this study. The animals were 'hooked-up' to an external power supply, emitting a symmetrical sinusoidal wave form with an amplitude of 2.0 volt p-p and a frequency of 60 kHz. The current values tested were 20muA, 30muA and 60muA. In surgery I, a head cap was affixed to the animal's skull with stainless-steel screws and an acrylic resin. The head cap was connected to the external power supply by an electrical stimulation wire, encased in a stainless-steel spring. Two electrical leads were subcutaneously tunneled from the head cap to the future tibial implant site, and sutured to the soft tissues. After a one week acclimatization period, a second surgical procedure, surgery II, involved the placement of titanium implants proximal to the tibial tuberosity in each tibiae. Electrodes were then sutured one on either side of the implant, thus 'cuffing' the implant, and the current was then applied to one implant site with the other acting as a control.;After seven days of continuous capacitive electrical stimulation, a biomechanical pull-out test was carried out to measure the force in Newtons (N) of implant extraction. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).