Numerical Study on Electromechanics in Cartilage Tissue with Respect to Its Electrical Properties

Abstract

Hyaline cartilage undergoes many substantial age-related physiochemical and biomechanical changes that reduce its ability to overcome the effects of mechanical stress and injury. In quest of therapeutic options, magnetic stimulation and electrical stimulation (ES) have been proposed for improving tissue engineering approaches for the repair of articular cartilage. The aim of this study is to summarize in silico investigations involving induced electrical properties of cartilage tissue due to various biophysical stimuli along their respective mathematical descriptions. Based on these, a preliminary numerical study involving electromechanical transduction in bovine cartilage tissue has been carried out using an open source finite element computational software. The simulation results have been compared to experimental results from the literature. This study serves as a basis for further in silico studies to better understand the behavior of hyaline cartilage tissue due to ES and to find an optimal stimulation protocol for the cartilage regeneration. Moreover, it provides an overview of the basic models along with mathematical description and scope for future research regarding electrical behavior of the cartilage tissue using open source software. The presented research summarizes the basic models with mathematical description regarding electrical behavior of the cartilage tissue. A preliminary numerical study involving electromechanical transduction in bovine cartilage tissue sample has been carried out using an open source finite element software. This research will provide scope for future research regarding electrical behavior of the cartilage tissue using open source software.