Design and Simulation of

an Electro Stimulator for

Muscle Cell Culture.
Facultad de Posgrados
Programa: Maestría en Ingeniería Mecatrónica
Directora: Angélica María Ramírez Martínez
Co-Directora: Juan Vaca González

Oscar Santiago Garzón Banoy

Código: 3900302

Bogotá D.C. 27 de septiembre de

2024
 Content

➢ Preliminary concepts.
➢ Problem statement.
➢ State of the art.
➢ Objectives.
➢ Methodology.
➢ Results and Discussion.
➢ Conclusions.
Preliminary Concepts: Electro stimulator

Figure 1. Muscular Electro stimulator Figure 2. Position of electrodes

Tomado de iReliev Tomado de iReliev
 Preliminary Concepts: Excitable Cells

A type of specialized cell that can

respond to electrical or chemical
stimuli by generating an action
potential.
Figure 4. Skeletal muscle

• Neurons
• Muscle cells
- Heart cells
(myocytes)
Figure 3. Cardiac cells
 Motivation and problem statement
Commercial Device

Transcutaneous Electrical Muscular Functional Electrical

Electrical Nerve Stimulation Stimulation
Stimulation

Figure 5. TENS. Figure 6. EMS. Figure 7. Liofilización.

Tomado de TENS 7000 Tomado de BLASET Tomado de NHS Foundation Trust
 Motivation and problem statement

Problem: The stimulation setting parameters currently

established by the market do not meet the requested
requirements of an excitable cell culture.

How to implement design and construction parameters in an

electrostimulator for activation of excitable cell cultures?
 Estado del arte
MEMS-based Lab-on-chip- platform with integrated 3D and planar
microelectrodes organotypic and cell cultures.

Figure 8. LOP design scheme.

Cabello Valverde Miguel, “MEMS-based Lab-on-chop- platform with integrated 3D and planar microelectrodes
organotypic and cell cultures”. Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Universidad de Sevilla, 2020.
 Estado del arte
Miniaturized device for applying electrical stimuli to cell cultures

Figure 9. Commercial miniaturized device

Carrascoso Arranz Marisa, “Dispositivo miniaturizado para aplicar estímulos eléctricos en cultivos celulares”,
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid – Universidad de Florida, 2022.
 Estado del arte
Design and construction of an
electromagnetic stimulation system for cell
culture.

Figure 11. Magnetic field generated by the coils

Figure 10. Helmholtz coil positioning.

Marcos García Castelló, “Diseño y construcción de un sistema de estimulación electromagnética para cultivos
celulares”. Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 2018.
 Objetivos
To develop a device that can generate electrical signals for stimulation of
excitable cell cultures.

● Identify the electrical parameters for

stimulation of excitable encapsulated cells.
● Design an electrical circuit that allows precise
manipulation of the stimulation parameters.
● Build the electro-stimulator so that it can be
assembled to cell culture systems.

Tomado de: Economipdia.com

 (a) Metodología
(f)

Cell Cultures Aplicaciones del Dispositivo

• Definition of cell culture / 1. Direct stimulation of muscle cells.
co-culture 2. Extrapolation to excitable cells.
• Excitable cell types 3. Establishment of stimulation signal.
(d)

Device Construction
Storage housing design to withstand high (e)
(b) temperatures

Input Parameters
Digital and/or analog variables
to be used for electrical
stimulation.
Device Validation
(c) 1. Experimental measurement of
frequency, voltage and resulting wave
type.
Digital / Analog configuration 2. Experimental measurement of
1. Graphical interface design. outgoing current.
2. Parameter setting by user. 3. Experimental tests on excitable cell
3. Power amplification stage design. cultures.
 Methodology (Input Parameters)
Frecuency Current Pulse Duration
Min Max Min Max Min Max
TENS 1 Hz 200 Hz 100 µA 100000 µA 50 µs 250 µs
EMS 1 Hz 120 Hz 5000 µA 200000 µA 100 µs 400 µs
FES 10 Hz 50 Hz 1000 µA 200000 µA 200 µs 600 µs
Myocytes 0,5 Hz 2 Hz 100 µA 500 µA 1000 µs 5000 µs
Skeletal Myocytes 1 Hz 100 Hz 100 µA 500 µA 200 µs 400 µs
Bone 1 Hz 100 Hz 1 µA 100000 µA 100 µs 1000 µs
Neuron 1 Hz 1000 Hz 1 µA 100000 µA 100 µs 1000 µs
Cartílage 1 Hz 100 Hz 1 µA 100000 µA 100 µs 1000 µs
 Methodology (Input Parameters)

PULSE
FRECUENCY
WAVE TYPE DURATION
(Hz)
(ms)

VOLTAGE CURRENT
(V) (mA)
Methodology (Digital Part)

Figure 13. Graphic interface - Sine signal Figure 14. Graphic interface - Triangular signal

Figure 12. Graphic interface - Square signal

Figura 15. Microcontroller Raspberry Pi 3 Tomado de: raspberrypi
 Methodology (Digital Analog Conversion)

1
0,8
0,6
0,4
0,2
0
0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1
-0,2
-0,4
-0,6
-0,8
-1

0,8

0,6

0,4

0,2

0
0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1
-0,2

-0,4

-0,6

-0,8

-1

Figure 16. Digital-to-Analog Conversion

 Methodology (Analog Part)

Output Signal
DAC MCP4725

Figure 17. Module DAC

Tomado de: Electronilab
 Methodology (Analog Part)

ET
Amplificador
seguidor

Alimentation 1st stage power

Figure 18. Follower amplifier - power amplifier
Methodology (Analog Part)

ET
2nd stage power

Voltage Regulator Figura 19. Etapa de potencia

Methodology (Analog Part)

Figura 20. Circuito análogo

 Results and Discussion (Current Variation)
Resistance Current
(Ω) (mA)
Resistance vs Current 0 58
120 100 58
200 58
300 58
100 400 58
500 57
1000 57
80 1500 57
Current (mA)

2000 38
2500 21
60 3000 11
3500 5,076
4000 2,202
40
4500 0,944
5000 0,454
5500 0,275
20
6000 0,209
6500 0,179
0 7000 0,16
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 7500 0,146
8000 0,132
Resistance (ohms)
8500 0,121
Figura 21. Variación de resistencia vs Corriente. 9000 0,11
9500 0,099
10000 0,091
 Results and Discussion (Amplifier)

Figura 23. Comparación señal de entrada vs señal de salida .

Figura 22. Señal de salida de amplificador seguidor .

Señales de salida:
- Generador de ondas.
- Amplificador operacional.
 Results and Discussion (Power)

Figura 24. Señal de salida transformador.

Figura 25. Comparación señal de entrada vs señal de salida .

Señales de salida:
- Generador de ondas.
- Señal de salida
 Conclusions
An electro stimulator for muscle cell culture has been developed.
➢ We were able to define an operating range capable of performing stimulation for muscle cell
culture.
➢ By reducing the operating range of frequency and voltage, and carefully controlling the
resistance, we can stabilize the current, thus providing adequate power for cellular
electrostimulation, which facilitates advances in the field of tissue engineering and the creation
of artificial tissues for the rehabilitation of people with various pathologies.
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Universidad Militar
Nueva Granada

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