Numerical schemes of nanosecond pulsed electric field systems for cell apoptosis applications

Characteristics of a 1 J/cm³ nanosecond pulsed electric field (nsPEF) system and cells under exposures are reported here through a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) analysis. The system is composed of a pulse forming line (PFL) and a universal electroporation cuvette filled with a buffer solution. The system is primarily designed via PSPICE model. The interactions between the PFL and the cuvette are taken into account by one-dimensional Telegrapher´s equations for the PFL and three-dimensional Maxwell´s curl equations for the cuvette volume. The voltage across the cuvette electrodes are validated through the laboratory-constructed nsPEF system. The observed electrically invisible effect of cells from transmembrane potentials across plasma and organelle membranes in both time and frequency domains increases the probability of electric field interactions with intracellular structures.