Controlled‐Potential Electromechanical Reshaping of Cartilage |
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| Authors: | Bryan M. Hunter Jeremy Kallick Jessica Kissel Maya Herzig Cyrus Manuel Dr. Dmitri Protsenko Dr. Brian J. F. Wong Prof. Michael G. Hill |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA, USA;2. The Beckman Laser Institute and Medical Clinic, University of California, Irvine, USA;3. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, Irvine, USA;4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, USA |
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| 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. |
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| Keywords: | cartilage chemical stress relaxation electrochemistry electromechanical reshaping permselectivity |
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