A new mechanical stimulator for cultured bone cells using piezoelectric actuator.

In this study, a new mechanical stimulator using the piezoelectric actuator was developed to give cultured bone cells mechanical strains with more physiologic magnitude, frequency components, and waveform. This stimulator provides bone cells in a three-dimensional collagen gel block culture mechanical strains with magnitude of 200-40,000 microstrain and frequency of DC-100 Hz, which sufficiently covers physiological strains on bone. Furthermore, the stimulator can generate not only common strain waveforms like sine and rectangular waves, but also arbitrary strain waveforms synthesized on a personal computer. In particular, the controllability of strain frequency and waveform is an advance over that of previous stimulators. Thus, this device can facilitate new findings regarding bone cell responses to mechanical stimuli.