Pulsed Electric Field Effects on Biological Cells

Abstract

A new type of field-cell interaction, "Intracellular Electromanipulation", by means of nonthermal, wideband electromagnetic radiation is being studied. It is based on capacitive coupling to cell substructures, and has therefore the potential to affect transport processes across subcellular membranes. This was verified experimentally by applying electrical pulses of 60 nanosecond duration, with electric field amplitudes of 50kV/cm to human eosinophils in vitro. Besides causing poration of intracellular membranes without disrupting the outer cell membrane, sub-microsecond pulses were found to induce apoptosis in cells.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 30, 2001
Accession Number
ADA399182

Entities

People

  • E. S. Buescher
  • Karl H. Schoenbach
  • Shenggang Liu
  • Stephen J. Beebe

Organizations

  • Old Dominion University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Apoptosis
  • Blood
  • Cell Membrane
  • Cell Physiological Processes
  • Cells
  • Electric Fields
  • Electromagnetic Fields
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Geometry
  • Intensity
  • Intracellular Membranes
  • Membrane Potentials
  • Millimeter Waves
  • Programmed Cell Death
  • Radiation
  • Radio Frequency

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.