Osteoporosis is a severe health issue in the aging population. It can be alleviated or delayed with proper medication as well as mechanical loading. Various studies showed that oscillation of pressure inside the intramedullary cavity is an effective stimulus to initiate bone remodeling. Current in vivo methods designed to modulate intramedullary pressure involve infection-vulnerable external oscillatory equipment. We report a methodology that combines a wireless micropump and a wireless pressure monitoring system for new bone formation. A wireless magnetic micropump was used to oscillate the intramedullary pressure of the rat femur. Pressure variations inside the intramedullary cavity were recorded using a wireless pressure monitoring system. Following 10 minutes of applied pressure oscillations and 7 days of recovery, bone formation in femora of rats tended to increase.

Levated urinary levels of interleukin-1 α (IL-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) have been reported in patients with interstitial cystitis (IC) relative to other inflammatory bladder diseases, highlighting their potential as biomarkers for disease diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring. No compact platform for the concurrent detection of these two IC-associated biomarkers in a urine matrix has been reported to date. Here, we present a single-chip multiplexed electrochemical biosensor for the simultaneous quantification of IL-1α and VEGF in artificial urine. The device was fabricated on a glass substrate using a combination of e-beam evaporation and screen-printing techniques. It exhibited dynamic detection ranges of 1–1,000 pg/mL for VEGF and 0.01–100 pg/mL for IL-1α, with limits of detection of 10 fg/mL and 1 fg/mL and response times of 20 s and 15 s, respectively. The biosensor demonstrated reproducibility with a relative standard deviation (RSD) below 3%, selectivity against common urinary interferents, including 0.5 mM glucose and 80 nM nitrite, and no measurable cross-reactivity between sensing channels. Repeatability testing across four consecutive calibration runs yielded an RSD below 0.1%. The platform further exhibited reversible responses over four ascending–descending concentration cycles, minimal signal drift during 12 h of continuous operation (overall RSD ≈ 0.6%), and stable performance over seven days (overall RSD = 1%). The capability to quantitatively monitor IL-1α and VEGF in real time using a single analytical platform supports its potential application in IC diagnosis, disease progression monitoring, and evaluation of therapeutic response at the point of care.

Mimicking vascular function in bone may serve to stimulate osteogenesis. We developed a micropump and wireless pressure sensing system to fluctuate and record intramedullary pressure (IMP) in the femoral diaphysis of young (6 months) and old (24 months) male Fischer-344 rats. In vivo IMP was determined (n = 5 per group). Additionally, two bone defects were created in the right femora (EXP) of young (n = 14) and old (n = 11) rats and catheterized to the micropump and wireless pressure sensor. Intramedullary pressure was fluctuated for 10 min. The left femur served as the control (CTL). Seven days post-surgery, femora were scanned by μCT (15 µm) to assess trabecular bone microarchitecture, cortical thickness and new bone volume at the endosteal and periosteal surfaces. Data were analyzed with SPSS software, and significance was p ≤ 0.05. In vivo IMP was lower (p < 0.05) in the old (~16 mmHg) vs. young (~36 mmHg) rats. Trabecular thickness in the proximal metaphysis was higher (p < 0.05) in the old rats, and the cortical shell was thicker (p < 0.05) and new bone volume greater (p < 0.05) in the young rats. Importantly, new bone volume was greater (p < 0.05) in young EXP (14 ± 7 mm³) vs. young CTL (7 ± 7 mm³) femora. A 10-min bout of IMP fluctuation stimulated osteogenesis in young rats.