Development of an Electroporation System for Preclinical Use

Electroporation is a technique, which use micro to milliseconds electric pulses in medicine. This pulse technique is based on the temporary increase of the membrane permeability due to reversible electrical breakdown of the plasma membrane upon application of external high-intensity field pulses of very short duration. Membrane charging and permeabilization caused by strong electric field generated by high- voltage pulses are preceded and accompanied by transient electrode formation forces, which lead to an elongation of the cells in low-conductivity media, thus affecting the membrane area of electropermeabilization in response to a breakdown pulse. This paper describes a design and development of an electroporation system with a micro-bio-chip applicator. We have conducted electroporation experiments in vitro using a developed system and have found permeabilization in cell membranes and resulting electrodeformation of the cells.