An electrical impedance indicator to assess electropermeabilisation in tissue, a preliminary study

Abstract

A controlled pulsed electrical field applied to a living tissue is believed to cause a structural reorganisation in the lipid bilayer of the cell membranes. This electropermeabilisation or electroporation process is used for opening up the cell membrane in order to get access to the cell. An electrical impedance tissue model that incorporates electroporation is presented. From this model a bio-impedance indicator is proposed that assesses the pore generation in the cell membranes. The indicator was determined during and after the electroporation. An impedance measurement device was designed and calibrated. This device was used for bio-impedance measurements on living rat tie muscles in relation with electroporation. The result from these measurements showed that it was possible to observe both openings and closings of the cell membranes during and after electroporation. Besides impedance measurements could be used for determining whether the electroporation is reversible or irreversible.