This article presents a transcutaneous electric stimulator that is based on chaotic signal. Firstly, we in the study used the MATLAB platform in the PC to generate chaotic signal through the chaos equation, and then we transferred the signal out by data acquisition equipment of USB-6251 manufactured by NI Company. In order to obtain high-power signal for transcutaneous electric stimulator, we used the chip of LM3886 to amplify the signal. Finally, we used the power-amplified chaotic signal to stimulate the internal nerve of human through the electrodes fixed on the skin. We obtained different stimulation effects of transcutaneous electric stimulator by changing the parameters of chaotic model. The preliminary test showed that the randomness of chaotic signals improved the applicability of electrical stimulation and the rules of chaos ensured that the stimulation was comfort. The method reported in this paper provides a new way for the design of transcutaneous electric stimulator.
This study investigated the early mechanical adaptability and osteogenic differentiation of mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (M-BMSCs) under micro-vibration stimulation (MVS). M-BMSCs were stimulated by MVS in vitro, cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity assay, and cytoskeleton were measured, and cell apoptosis was observed by flow cytometry. Early osteoblast-associated genes, runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2), Collagen Ⅰ (Col-Ⅰ) and ALP, were observed by RT-PCR and the activation of extracellular regulated protein kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) was determined by Western blotting. The results showed that MVS had no significant effect on the proliferation of M-BMSCs. The early apoptosis was induced by mechanical stimulation (for one day), but the apoptosis was decreased after cyclic stimulation for 3 days. At the same time, MVS significantly accelerated the expression of F-actin protein in cytoskeleton, the synthesis of ALP and the ERK1/2 pathway, also up-regulated the expressions of Runx2, Col-Ⅰ and ALP genes. This study indicates that MVS could regulate cellular activity, alter early adaptive structure and finally promote the early osteogenic differentiation of M-BMSCs.