Effects of muscle electrical stimulation on bone mineral density in the hindlimb bones of the tail-suspended rats.

Bone mass loss caused by microgravity is considered as one of the worst influences to human body during long-term spaceflight. As one of the countermeasures to retain bone mass, muscle electrical stimulation is just started in spaceflight application and needs further research. This work is aimed to investigate the effects of muscle electrical stimulation based on the tail-suspended rat experiment. The statistical results of bone mineral density have shown that muscle electrical stimulation can retain bone mass to a certain extent under the condition of simulated microgravity.