A comprehensive theoretical study of thermal relations in plant tissue following electroporation

Abstract

Electroporation is the application of electric pulses of sufficient amplitude to target tissue, which entails not only permeabilization of cell membranes, but also heat generation and dissipation. Noticeable rises in temperature have been observed in a number of electroporation applications. These temperature rises are a potential source of alteration of thermodynamic properties of tissue wherein mass transport is occurring. Transport parameters are temperature-dependent, as they relate to thermodynamic processes.This paper presents a theoretical study of thermal relations in tissue immediately following electroporation. An analysis of thermal transfer characteristics of tissue based on available data from literature is performed, and a model of heat transfer in tissue is presented. The tissue is modelled as a porous medium, and the chosen model for analysis, which we call the dual-porosity model, is a two-temperature model developed for heterogeneous porous materials. The dual-porosity model in its given form is a particular example of a LaLoThEq (Lack of Local Thermal Eqilibrium) model. This model is used to evaluate the potential for any significant alteration of cell membrane’s thermal conductivity due to electroporation, and examines whether electroporation thus directly influences heat redistribution in tissue.The main result is an in-depth theoretical analysis on the potential influence of electroporation on heat transfer characteristics of tissue via any direct influence of the treatment to the cell membrane. Findings of the study indicate that, on the contrary to the effects of electroporation on mass transport in tissue, the treatment would appear to exert a negligible influence on heat redistribution, at least due to its direct impact on the cell membrane. Other impacts of electroporation that could potentially result in a heterogeneous heat (re)distribution in tissue are briefly discussed, albeit not the subject of this study.