Pulsed power technology

Pulsed power refers to the science and technology of accumulating energy over a relatively long period of time and releasing it as a high-power pulse composed of high voltage and current over a short period of time; as such, it has extremely high power but moderately low energy. Pulsed power is produced by transferring energy generally stored in capacitors and inductors to a load very quickly through switching devices. Applications of pulsed power continue expan sion into fields including the environment, recycling, energy, defense, material processing, medical treatment, plasma medicine, and food and agriculture. Building upon the development of pulsed power generators which offer both high repetition and performance, scientists are now able to investigate effects of pulsed power on living organisms, and their research has expanded to encompass a new field known as bioelectrics. Section 2.1 summarizes pulsed power technology with a focus on this new field. Section 2.2 summarizes the basics of electric circuits, while Sect. 2.3 discusses pulsed power generators utilized for bioelectrics. Section 2.4 describes switches as a key technology. Measurement tools of pulsed power are shown in Sect. 2.5, and delivery of electric pulses to biological tissues using antennas is described in Sect. 2.6.