2025/01/30 by Yuyi Guo, Juergen F. Kolb, Weidong Wang +3 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Microbial Inactivation Methods
paper · doi:10.1088/1361-6463/adb049
openalex publication_date 2025/01/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Abstract Electroporation of the cell membrane has been widely used in biology, medicine, and food engineering. However, there is still a lack of direct and real-time characterization methods to investigate the highly rapid dynamic process of nano-electroporation. In this study, voltage and current measurements of cell suspensions, combined with impedance spectroscopy and an equivalent circuit model, were used to calculate macroscopic electroporation current ( I ep ). The results demonstrated that high voltage induces rapid pore formation, with I ep accuracy influenced by waveform smoothness and oscilloscope resolution. Averaging three sampling points (6 ns) effectively minimized the waveform oscillations, allowing for a clear differentiation of changes across varying electric field strengths. Overall, I ep increased as the electric field strength increased, exhibiting a field strength-dependent manner. Compared to cell membrane conductivity and instantaneous impedance, I ep is more directly correlated with membrane electroporation and is applicable to various biological samples, including cell suspensions and tissues. This study indicates that based on electrical measurements and a simple circuit model, online monitoring of real-time electroporation processes can be conducted in situ with high temporal resolution, sensitivity, and broad applicability.