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Numerical Determination of Transmembrane Voltage Induced on Irregularly Shaped Cells

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Abstract

The paper presents an approach that reduces several difficulties related to the determination of induced transmembrane voltage (ITV) on irregularly shaped cells. We first describe a method for constructing realistic models of irregularly shaped cells based on microscopic imaging. This provides a possibility to determine the ITV on the same cells on which an experiment is carried out, and can be of considerable importance in understanding and interpretation of the data. We also show how the finite-thickness, nonzero-conductivity membrane can be replaced by a boundary condition in which a specific surface conductivity is assigned to the interface between the cell interior (the cytoplasm) and the exterior. We verify the results obtained using this method by a comparison with the analytical solution for an isolated spherical cell and a tilted oblate spheroidal cell, obtaining a very good agreement in both cases. In addition, we compare the ITV computed for a model of two irregularly shaped CHO cells with the ITV measured on the same two cells by means of a potentiometric fluorescent dye, and also with the ITV computed for a simplified model of these two cells.

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Notes

  1. This could be addressed by sequentially modifying the electric properties of the membrane and recomputing the potential distribution. An example of such modification for a tissue exposed to an electric field can be found in Ref.41

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia. The authors wish to thank Dr Marko Puc for building the switcher device for delivery of electric pulses in the experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    G. Pucihar, T. Kotnik, B. Valič & D. Miklavčič

  2. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Tržaška 25, SI-1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    D. Miklavčič

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  1. G. Pucihar
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Correspondence to D. Miklavčič.

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Pucihar, G., Kotnik, T., Valič, B. et al. Numerical Determination of Transmembrane Voltage Induced on Irregularly Shaped Cells. Ann Biomed Eng 34, 642–652 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-005-9076-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-005-9076-2

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