# Multimodal wireless electrical stimulation for tissue regeneration

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2024 · $458,114

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Twenty million Americans suffer from peripheral nerve injury, which results in approximately
$150 billion health-care expenses annually in the United States. Approximately half of patients treated
with nerve grafts have an inadequate level of function. Twenty million Americans suffer from peripheral
nerve injury, which results in approximately $150 billion health-care expenses annually in the United
States. Among various factors, axon growth rate and the lack of reinnervation and neuromuscular
regeneration are two major road barriers. In many cases, during peripheral regeneration, the muscle
undergoes atrophy and becomes un-receptive to reinnervation, and even the sprouting axons that
regenerate across the gap cannot form functional neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). While most of the
previous studies focus on accelerating peripheral nerve growth, novel approaches to maintain the
neuromuscular receptivity and delay the degeneration of muscle need to be developed and integrated.
Therefore, an integrative approach that combines the acceleration of axon growth and the prevention
of muscle degeneration is required to address this unmet medical need, and we propose to use
multimodal electrical stimulation (ES) to achieve this goal. Our recent studies have shown that repetitive
ES either at the proximal or distal stumps of transected nerve can be more effective than one-time ES
to further improve the therapeutic outcome, but their relative contributions to and their combined effects
on axon growth, the slow-down of muscle atrophy and reinnervation remain to be investigated.
Therefore, to investigate the potential synergistic effects of proximal and distal ES, we hypothesize
that programmable ES at the proximal and distal stumps of sciatic nerve following a transection injury
can promote axon growth and maintain muscle receptivity respectively and synergize neuromuscular
regeneration. We will test this hypothesis by developing a wireless, stretchable, bioresorbable and
miniaturized system that allows repetitive ES with versatile protocols. To address the aforementioned
challenges and test our hypothesis, we have assembled a multidisciplinary team, and performed pilot
studies to demonstrate the feasibility. We propose three Specific Aims: (1) To develop and
characterize a bioresorbable, stretchable and wireless bioelectronic device for repetitive electrical
stimulation. (2) To determine how the time periods of repetitive proximal and distal ES regulate muscle
functional recovery. (3) To investigate the combined effects of proximal and distal ES on neuromuscular
regeneration. This proposed project is timely with the recent advancement in regenerative engineering,
micro/nanotechnologies, miniaturized wireless point-of-care devices, and bioresorbable and stretchable
electrodes. This innovative bioelectronic device provides a novel and minimally invasive approach for
neuromuscular regeneration, and will have wide applications in regenerative me...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10839773
- **Project number:** 5R01NS126918-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Song Li
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $458,114
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-05-01 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10839773

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10839773, Multimodal wireless electrical stimulation for tissue regeneration (5R01NS126918-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10839773. Licensed CC0.

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