Wireless electrical stimulation induced by a 3D biofriendly polymer-based magnetoelectric graft: an in silico study

Electrical stimulation promotes the repair of nerve injuries, however, their large-scale application in vivo is still limited due to the issues related to invasive and not-mechanically compliant commonly-used stimulators. Recently, magnetoelectric nanoparticles (MENPs) have been proposed thanks to their ability to locally generate electricity, when activated by external and low intensity magnetic fields. Here, a new paradigm based on the use of MENPs-loaded 3D polymeric graft has been demonstrated through a multi-scale in silico framework. In particular the stimulation ability of a millimetric, biomechanically compliant, magnetoelectric graft was functionally assessed in a realistic model of human peripheral nerve. Our results pave the way for a remote and wireless electricity generation by using novel magnetoelectric-based biomaterials, able to deliver the extremely localized effects of individual MENPs to elicit neurons electrical stimulation.