Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, Scotland, United KIngdom.
Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, CSIC, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
Biomater Sci. 2024 Apr 30;12(9):2180-2202. doi: 10.1039/d3bm01946b.
Electrical activity underpins all life, but is most familiar in the nervous system, where long range electrical signalling is essential for function. When this is lost (, traumatic injury) or it becomes inefficient (, demyelination), the use of external fields can compensate for at least some functional deficits. However, its potential to also promote biological repair at the cell level is underplayed despite abundant evidence for control of neuron growth. This perspective article considers specifically the emerging possibility of achieving cell growth through the interaction of external electric fields using conducting materials as unwired bipolar electrodes, and without intending stimulation of neuron electrical activity to be the primary consequence. The use of a wireless method to create electrical interactions represents a paradigm shift and may allow new applications where physical wiring is not possible. Within that scheme of thought an evaluation of specific materials and their dynamic responses as bipolar unwired electrodes is summarized and correlated with changes in dynamic nerve growth during stimulation, suggesting possible future schemes to achieve neural growth using bipolar unwired electrodes with specific characteristics. This strategy emphasizes how nerve growth can be encouraged at injury sites wirelessly to induce repair, as opposed to implanting devices that may substitute the neural signals.
电活动是所有生命的基础，但在神经系统中最为常见，长距离电信号对于功能至关重要。当这种电活动丧失（如创伤性损伤）或效率降低（如脱髓鞘）时，外部场可以补偿至少一些功能缺陷。然而，尽管有大量证据表明可以控制神经元生长，但它在细胞水平促进生物修复的潜力却被低估了。本文特别考虑了通过使用导电材料作为无连线双极电极的外部电场相互作用来实现细胞生长的新兴可能性，并且不打算将神经元电活动的刺激作为主要后果。使用无线方法来创建电相互作用代表了一种范式转变，并且可能允许在不可能进行物理布线的情况下实现新的应用。在这种思路下，总结了特定材料及其作为双极无连线电极的动态响应的评估，并与刺激过程中神经生长的动态变化相关联，这表明使用具有特定特性的双极无连线电极实现神经生长的可能未来方案。这种策略强调了如何通过无线方式在损伤部位鼓励神经生长以诱导修复，而不是植入可能替代神经信号的设备。
