Quantitative analyses of RBC movement in whole blood exposed to DC and ELF electric field

Abstract

For the study of biological effects of direct current (DC) and extremely low frequency (ELF) electric fields, we have quantitatively analyzed red blood cell (RBC) movement in whole blood. Considering the inhomogeneous distribution of electric fields in vivo, five different electric field distributions were generated under a microscope. For theoretical analyses, we assumed electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis as basic motive forces and obtained the spatial distribution of blood cell velocity. The RBC velocity was measured using video image analysis. The spatial dependence of the velocity showed good agreement with that predicted by theoretical analysis. This result suggests the validity of the theoretical model based on electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis for the study of ELF electric field exposure to inhomogeneous animal and human bodies. Next, using the same measurement system, we attempted to find the electric field strength at which these effects occur. The threshold values were found to be 0.40 and 1.6 kV/m, respectively, for DC and AC electric field exposures. Furthermore, we investigated the reproducibility of the field effects in more realistic conditions of human exposure. The RBCs in microchannels were exposed to the electric field generated in capacitive coupling using electrodes separated by an air gap. Even in the new condition, similar effects were observed, which also verified the validity of the analysis described above. These results will provide useful information for the safety assessment of field exposure and for the future biomedical applications of electric fields to manipulate RBCs in vivo.