Cell membrane electroporation-Part 3: the equipment

As described in Part 1, a cell membrane can be made permeable to various molecules by carrying out a procedure called electroporation [1]. This procedure is being successfully used in biology, biotechnology, and medicine [2], [3]. It requires electroporators and electrodes. An electroporator generates short HV pulses of specific shape, amplitude, duration, number, and repetition frequency [4], and the pulses are applied to the target cells or load through the electrodes [5]. The energy delivered to the load is governed by the number of pulses and the pulse voltage, current, and duration. In biomedical applications that energy can be several joules; in biotechnology, where electroporation is used for treatment of agricultural products and water, it can be several kilojoules.