Exposure of cells to electric fields: numerical analysis with a volume-integral-equation approach

J.C. Vanegas Acosta, V. Lancellotti, A.P.M. Zwamborn

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The exposure of biological cells to an incident electric field (EF) affects cellular behaviour. However, the interaction mechanisms are still a matter of discussion. Although most of the evidence comes from experimental trials, numerical simulations are helpful to obviate the lack of reproducible experimental results and to resolve contradictory conclusions. In this work we present a numerical framework for computing the intracellular EF in arbitrary-shaped biological cells with nucleus. As an example, up to four inhomogeneous cells exposed to an incident EF of 1 V/m at 2.45 GHz are studied. The solution is obtained by implementing the electric flux volume integral equation (VIE) and the Method of Moments (MoM) with SchaubertWilton-Glisson (SWG) basis functions. Qualitative results show that the intracellular EF is related to the neighboring cells in terms of number and position. Quantitative analysis shows intracellular variations in the order of 20-30 mV/mm, which might be enough to trigger biological responses in cells. Therefore, this approach may be suitable to further investigate the cell-cell EF interactions, especially in non-canonical shaped cells with non-concentric nucleus.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 8th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP 2014), 6-11 April 2014, The Hague, The Netherlands
Place of PublicationPiscataway
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages3189-3193
Number of pages5
ISBN (Print)978-88-907018-4-9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014
Event8th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2014) - The Hague, Netherlands
Duration: 6 Apr 201411 Apr 2014
Conference number: 8
http://www.eucap2014.org/

Conference

Conference8th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2014)
Abbreviated titleEuCAP 2014
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityThe Hague
Period6/04/1411/04/14
Internet address

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