The use of membrane-based guided bone regeneration techniques has great potential for single-stage reconstruction of critical-sized bone defects. Here, a multifunctional bone regeneration membrane combining flexible elasticity, electrical stimulation (ES) and osteoinductive activity is developed by in situ doping of MXene 2D nanomaterials with conductive functionality and β-TCP particles into a Poly(lactic acid-carbonate (PDT) composite nano-absorbable membrane (P/T/MXene) via electrostatic spinning technique. The composite membrane has good feasibility due to its temperature sensitivity, elastic memory capacity, coordinated degradation profile and easy preparation process. In vitro experiments showed the P/T/MXene membrane effectively promoted the recruitment and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) under ES and enhanced the angiogenic capacity of endothelial cells, which synergistically promoted bone regeneration through neovascularization. In addition, an in vivo rat model of cranial bone defects further confirmed the bone regeneration efficacy of the P/T/MXene membrane. In conclusion, the developed P/T/MXene membrane can effectively promote bone regeneration through their synergistic multifunctional effects, suggesting the membranes have great potential for guiding tissue regeneration and providing guidance for the biomaterials design.

The value associated with reward is sensitive to external factors, such as the time between the choice and reward delivery as classically manipulated in temporal discounting tasks. Subjective preference for two reward options is dependent on objective variables of reward magnitude and reward delay. Single neuron correlates of reward value have been observed in regions, including ventral striatum, orbital, and medial prefrontal cortex. Brain imaging studies show cortico-striatal-limbic network activity related to subjective preferences. To explore how oscillatory dynamics represent reward processing across brain regions, we measured local field potentials of rats performing a temporal discounting task. Our goal was to use a data-driven approach to identify an electrophysiological marker that correlates with reward preference. We found that reward-locked oscillations at beta frequencies signaled the magnitude of reward and decayed with longer temporal delays. Electrodes in orbitofrontal/medial prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, ventral striatum, and amygdala individually increased power and were functionally connected at beta frequencies during reward outcome. Beta power during reward outcome correlated with subjective value as defined by a computational model fit to the discounting behavior. These data suggest that cortico-striatal beta oscillations are a reward signal correlated, which may represent subjective value and hold potential to serve as a biomarker and potential therapeutic target.

UNASSIGNED: While electrical stimulation has been demonstrated to improve medical research council (MRC) scores in critically ill patients, its effectiveness remains a subject of debate. This meta-analysis aimed to discuss recent insights into the effectiveness of electrical stimulation in improving muscle strength and its effects on different clinical outcomes in critically ill adults.
UNASSIGNED: A comprehensive search of major electronic databases, including PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Embase, was conducted from inception to June 15, 2024, to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the effects of electrical stimulation in critically ill patients. The analysis focused on comparing electrical stimulation to standard care, sham interventions, or placebo. Outcomes of interest included MRC scores, duration of mechanical ventilation (MV), mortality rate, and intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital length of stay (LOS).
UNASSIGNED: A total of 23 RCTs, including 1798 patients, met the inclusion criteria. The findings demonstrated a significant benefit of electrical stimulation over usual care in enhancing global muscle strength, as measured by MRC scores (MD =3.62, 95% CI 0.94 to 6.30, p = 0.0008, I2 = 87%). While subgroup analysis of electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) demonstrated no significant effect on ICU LOS, sensitivity analysis indicated a potential reduction in ICU LOS for both EMS (MD = -11.0, 95% CI -21.12 to -0.88, p = 0.03) and electrical stimulation overall (MD = -1.02, 95% CI -1.96 to -0.08, p = 0.03) compared to the control group. In addition, sensitivity analysis suggested that both electrical stimulation (MD = -2.38, 95% CI -3.81 to -0.94, p = 0.001) and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) specifically (MD = -2.36, 95% CI -3.85 to -0.88, p = 0.002) may contribute to a decrease in hospital LOS. No statistically significant differences were observed in mortality or duration of MV.
UNASSIGNED: Electrical stimulation appears to be an effective intervention for improving MRC scores in critically ill patients. However, further research is warranted to explain the potential effects of electrical stimulation on hospital LOS and ICU LOS.
UNASSIGNED: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/#recordDetails.

With electrical stimulation, retinal prostheses bypass dysfunctional photoreceptors and activate the surviving bipolar or retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Therefore, the effective modulation of RGCs is crucial for developing retinal prostheses. Substantial research has been performed on the ability of an electrical stimulus to generate a reliable RGC response. However, different experimental conditions show varying levels of how well the electrical stimulation evokes RGC spikes. Therefore, in this study, we attempted to extract an indicator to understand how the electrical stimulation effectively evokes RGC spikes. Six cynomolgus monkeys were used: three as controls and three as an N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced retinal degeneration model. The retinal recordings were performed using 8 × 8 multi-electrode arrays (MEAs). Electrical stimulation consisted of symmetrical biphasic pulses of varying amplitudes and durations. The number of stimulation conditions that resulted in significantly higher post-stimulation firing rates than pre-stimulus firing rates was defined as the modulation efficiency ratio (MER). The MER was significantly lower in degenerated retinas than in normal retinas. We investigated the relationship between the variables and the MER in normal and degenerated primate RGCs. External variables, such as duration and inter-electrode distance, and internal variables, such as average firing rates and statistics (mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation [CV]) of inter-spike intervals (ISIs) of spontaneous spikes, were used. External variables had similar effects on MER in normal and degenerated RGCs. In contrast, internal variables affected MER differently in normal and degenerated RGCs. While in normal RGCs, they were not related to MER, in degenerated RGCs, the mean ISIs were positively correlated with MER, and the CV of ISIs was negatively correlated with MER. The most important variable affecting MER was the mean ISI. A shorter ISI indicates hyperactive firing in the degenerated retina, which prevents electrical stimulation from evoking more RGCs. We believe that this hyperactivity in degenerated retinas results in a lower MER than that in the normal retina. Our findings can be used to optimize the selection of stimulation channels for in vitro MEA experiments and practical calibration methods to achieve higher efficiency when testing retinal prostheses.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are insufficiently degraded in saline wastewater treatment processes and are found at high concentrations and detection frequencies in aquatic environments. In this study, the wetland plant Thalia dealbata was selected using a screening plant experiment to ensure good salt tolerance and high efficiency in removing PPCPs. An electric integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland (E-VFCW) was developed to improve the removal of PPCPs and reduce the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The removal efficiency of ofloxacin, enrofloxacin, and diclofenac in the system with anaerobic cathodic and aerobic anodic chambers is higher than that of the control system (41.84±2.88%, 47.29±3.01%, 53.29±2.54%) by approximately 20.31%, 16.04%, and 35.25%. The removal efficiency of ibuprofen in the system with the aerobic anodic and anaerobic cathodic chamber was 28.51% higher than that of the control system (72.41±3.06%) and promotes the reduction of ARGs. Electrical stimulation can increase the activity of plant enzymes, increasing their adaptability to stress caused by PPCPs, and PPCPs are transferred to plants. Species related to PPCPs biodegradation (Geobacter, Lactococcus, Hydrogenophaga, and Nitrospira) were enriched in the anodic and cathodic chambers of the system. This study provides an essential reference for the removal of PPCPs in saline-constructed wetlands.

Vestibular implants (VI) modulate the rate and amplitude of charge-balanced current pulses to encode head angular velocity or acceleration. When the battery of a VI becomes depleted, stimulation interruptions can cause vertigo. To avoid this, VIs can use alert signals such as vibration and beeping to remind the user to replace the battery. However, in distracting and noisy environments typical of activities of daily life, some patients may fail to hear or feel those alerts, so a physiological signal can be used as an alternate channel for signaling battery depletion. Pauses in the stimulation waveform can be delivered for this purpose, with the length of the pause long enough to be detected reliably by the patient but not so long as to induce dizziness or a vertigo attack. As a guide for the design of a physiologic battery depletion alert system, this study reports the ability of nine long-term, continuous VI users to detect stimulation pauses of various durations. We also show the effect of distraction on patients\' detection thresholds and response latencies for detected events.

Recent interest in tissue engineering (TE) has focused on electrically conductive biomaterials. This has been inspired by the characteristics of the cells\' microenvironment where signalling is supported by electrical stimulation. Numerous studies have demonstrated the positive influence of electrical stimulation on cell excitation to proliferate, differentiate, and deposit extracellular matrix. Even without external electrical stimulation, research shows that electrically active scaffolds can improve tissue regeneration capacity. Tissues like bone, muscle, and neural contain electrically excitable cells that respond to electrical cues provided by implanted biomaterials. To introduce an electrical pathway, TE scaffolds can incorporate conductive polymers, metallic nanoparticles, and ceramic nanostructures. However, these materials often do not meet implantation criteria, such as maintaining mechanical durability and degradation characteristics, making them unsuitable as scaffold matrices. Instead, depositing conductive layers on TE scaffolds has shown promise as an efficient alternative to creating electrically conductive structures. A stratified scaffold with an electroactive surface synergistically excites the cells through active top-pathway, with/without electrical stimulation, providing an ideal matrix for cell growth, proliferation, and tissue deposition. Additionally, these conductive coatings can be enriched with bioactive or pharmaceutical components to enhance the scaffold\'s biomedical performance. This review covers recent developments in electrically active biomedical coatings for TE. The physicochemical and biological properties of conductive coating materials, including polymers (polypyrrole, polyaniline and PEDOT:PSS), metallic nanoparticles (gold, silver) and inorganic (ceramic) particles (carbon nanotubes, graphene-based materials and Mxenes) are examined. Each section explores the conductive coatings\' deposition techniques, deposition parameters, conductivity ranges, deposit morphology, cell responses, and toxicity levels in detail. Furthermore, the applications of these conductive layers, primarily in bone, muscle, and neural TE are considered, and findings from in vitro and in vivo investigations are presented. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Tissue engineering (TE) scaffolds are crucial for human tissue replacement and acceleration of healing. Neural, muscle, bone, and skin tissues have electrically excitable cells, and their regeneration can be enhanced by electrically conductive scaffolds. However, standalone conductive materials often fall short for TE applications. An effective approach involves coating scaffolds with a conductive layer, finely tuning surface properties while leveraging the scaffold\'s innate biological and physical support. Further enhancement is achieved by modifying the conductive layer with pharmaceutical components. This review explores the under-reviewed topic of conductive coatings in tissue engineering, introducing conductive biomaterial coatings and analyzing their biological interactions. It provides insights into enhancing scaffold functionality for tissue regeneration, bridging a critical gap in current literature.

Nanomaterials are increasingly used in biomedical imaging and cancer therapy, and how to improve the endocytosis of nanomaterials by cells is a key issue. The application of alternating current (AC) electrical stimulation to osteosarcoma cells (MG-63) here can increase the cellular endocytosis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles (diameter: 50 nm) by 52.46% via macropinocytosis. This can be ascribed to the decrease in F-actin content and the increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration. Transmission electron microscope, immunofluorescence staining, western blot, flow cytometry, and inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer analyses support this interpretation. The application of electrical stimulation decreases the cell viability in magnetic hyperthermia by 47.6% and increases the signal intensity of magnetic resonance imaging by 29%. Similar enhanced endocytosis is observed for breast cancer cells (MCF-7), glioblastoma cells (U-87 MG), melanoma cells (A-375), and bladder cancer cells (TCCSUP), and also for Fe3O4 nanoparticles with the diameters of 20 and 100 nm, and Zn0.54Co0.46Cr0.65Fe1.35O4 nanoparticles with the diameter of 70 nm. It seems the electrical stimulation has the potential to improve the diagnostic and therapeutic effects of magnetic nanoparticles by promoting endocytosis.

Piezoelectric effect produces an electrical signal when stress is applied to the bone. When the integrity of the bone is destroyed, the biopotential within the defect site is reduced and several physiological responses are initiated to facilitate healing. During the healing of the bone defect, the bioelectric potential returns to normal levels. Treatment of fractures that exceed innate regenerative capacity or exhibit delayed healing requires surgical intervention for bone reconstruction. For bone defects that cannot heal on their own, exogenous electric fields are used to assist in treatment. This paper reviews the effects of exogenous electrical stimulation on bone healing, including osteogenesis, angiogenesis, reduction in inflammation and effects on the peripheral nervous system. This paper also reviews novel electrical stimulation methods, such as small power supplies and nanogenerators, that have emerged in recent years. Finally, the challenges and future trends of using electrical stimulation therapy for accelerating bone healing are discussed.

Sarcopenia, a condition characterized by muscle weakness and mass loss, poses significant risks of accidents and complications. Traditional diagnostic methods often rely on physical function measurements like handgrip strength which can be challenging for affected patients, including those with stroke. To address these challenges, we propose a novel sarcopenia diagnosis model utilizing stimulated muscle contraction signals captured via wearable devices. Our approach achieved impressive results, with an accuracy of 93% and 100% in sarcopenia classification for male and female stroke patients, respectively. These findings underscore the significance of our method in diagnosing sarcopenia among stroke patients, offering a non-invasive and accessible solution.