Effects of electrode placement on electrical stimulation for wound healing

Abstract

Effective wound healing is directly linked to survival. Long-term unhealed wounds impair quality of life and incur significant costs. Electrical stimulation (ES) influences wound healing by modulating signals that regulate cell proliferation, migration, and immune response. In ES treatment, the placement of electrodes is a critical factor, as it impacts the environmental conditions and cell polarity essential for wound healing. This study analyzed the effects of various electrode placements to identify the optimal setup for accelerating wound healing. The optimized electrode placement enhanced wound healing in a rat model of full-thickness skin defect over 17 days, and the electrical field (EF) was analyzed using simulations. In-vivo, the optimized electrode placement achieved a 16.7% reduction in wound area compared to the control group. In simulation, a forward vector of the EF from the optimized electrode placement was observed. The findings suggest that optimizing the electrode placement for ES is beneficial to wound healing.