Controlled-Potential Electromechanical Reshaping of Cartilage.

Controlled-Potential Electromechanical Reshaping of Cartilage.

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2016 Apr 5;

Authors: Hunter BM, Kallick J, Kissel J, Herzig M, Manuel C, Protsenko D, Wong BJ, Hill MG

Abstract
An alternative to conventional "cut-and-sew" cartilage surgery, electromechanical reshaping (EMR) is a molecular-based modality in which an array of needle electrodes is inserted into cartilage held under mechanical deformation by a jig. Brief (ca. 2 min) application of an electrochemical potential at the water-oxidation limit results in permanent reshaping of the specimen. Highly sulfated glycosaminoglycans within the cartilage matrix provide structural rigidity to the tissue through extensive ionic-bonding networks; this matrix is highly permselective for cations. Our studies indicate that EMR results from electrochemical generation of localized, low-pH gradients within the tissue: fixed negative charges in the proteoglycan matrix are protonated, resulting in chemically induced stress relaxation of the tissue. Re-equilibration to physiological pH restores the fixed negative charges, and yields remodeled cartilage that retains a new shape approximated by the geometry of the reshaping jig.

PMID: 27059655 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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