Investigation of low-voltage pulse parameters on electroporation and electrical lysis using a microfluidic device with interdigitated electrodes

IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2014 Mar;61(3):871-82. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2013.2291794.

Abstract

Electroporation (EP) of biological cells leads to the exchange of materials through the permeabilized cell membrane, while electrical lysis (EL) irreversibly disrupts the cell membrane. We report a microfluidic device to study these two phenomena with low-voltage excitation for lab-on-a-chip (LOC) applications. For systematic study of EP, we have employed a quantification metric: flow Index (FI) of EP. Simulation and experimental results with the microfluidic device containing interdigitated, coplanar, integrated electrodes to electroporate, and rapidly lyse biological cells are presented. H&E stained human buccal cells were subjected to various pulse magnitudes, pulsewidths, and number of pulses. Simulations show that an electric field of 25 kV/cm with a 20 V applied potential produced 1.3 (°)C temperature rise for a 5 s of excitation. For a 20 V pulse-excitation with pulse-widths between 0.5 to 5 s, EL was observed, whereas for lower excitations, only EP was observed. FI of EP is found to be a direct function of pulse magnitudes, pulsewidths, and numbers of pulses. To release DNA from nucleus, excitation-pulses of 5 s were required. Quantification of EP would be useful for systematic study of EP toward optimization with various excitation pulses, while low-voltage requirement and high yield of EP and EL are critical to develop LOC for drug delivery and cell-sample preparation, respectively.

MeSH terms

  • Cell Nucleus / radiation effects
  • Computer Simulation
  • Cytological Techniques / instrumentation*
  • Cytological Techniques / methods
  • DNA / analysis
  • Electrodes
  • Electroporation / methods*
  • Equipment Design
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / instrumentation*
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / methods
  • Mouth Mucosa / cytology

Substances

  • DNA