Effects of electrical stimulation on tendon repair

An invasive approach to accelerate tendon healing in vivo with direct current electrical stimulation is presented in this study. Achilles tendons of rabbits have been transected and repaired on both legs. An electrical circuit was designed to provide a 7-mAmp current on the repair site of one leg wh...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Goh, Sin Suan
Other Authors: Chou, Siaw Meng
Format: Theses and Dissertations
Published: 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/5754
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Description
Summary:An invasive approach to accelerate tendon healing in vivo with direct current electrical stimulation is presented in this study. Achilles tendons of rabbits have been transected and repaired on both legs. An electrical circuit was designed to provide a 7-mAmp current on the repair site of one leg while the other acts as control. After 21 days of treatment, the rabbits were sacrificed and the Achilles tendons were extracted for mechanical testing. The Ultimate Load, Ultimate Elongation, Strain at Ultimate Tensile Stress (UTS) and Cross-sectional area were found to be significantly higher in the stimulated group as compared to control. The results strongly suggest that using electrical stimulation for tendon repair results in quicker return to normal function.