Abstract
1. The electric potentials in undeformed rabbit tibiae were measured in vivo and in vitro.
2. Surgically traumatised soft-tissues, particularly muscle, constituted the major source of voltage in vivo (up to 22 millivolts).
3. Electrical insulation of the tibia from attached soft parts abolished the high potentials on the bone.
4. Similarly high voltages could be reproduced in an excised tibia by substituting a battery for the injured muscle.
5. Changes in voltage also could be induced by altering blood flow rates or by rapid infusion of saline into the medullary space.
6. Death of the cellular elements in bone did not alter the voltage significantly.
7. The electrical contributions of the nervous system, and of dipole components of the extracellular matrix (such as collagen), either were inconsequential or of such low magnitude as to be "masked" by the larger "injury" voltages. Supported by grants from the United States Public Health Service (AM-07822) and the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases (TIAM-05408).
