Dielectric phenomenon of living matter

Abstract

Surges of current in the polarization and depolarization curves for living tissue refer to trapped charges on domain boundaries within the cytoplasm or on cell membranes. An electric field is shown to provoke an elastic deformation of living cells with a relaxation nature. The diagram of a cell with domains of neutral-normal and polarized-excited states is described. An electromechanical model with an inertial element is used to describe the cooperative correlation between domains. A new technique of voltage-stimulated polarization in response to a ramp voltage enables the assessment of the visco-elastic characteristics of animal tissue cells. It reveals the nature of fine liquid crystalline domains of hierarchical structures in cytoplasm and cell membranes with respective threshold voltages that initiate their discrete polarizations. The positive increment of the permittivity spectra in the range of 20 to 10/sup 6/ Hz of intact leaves differs from those exhibiting relaxation behavior, and is shown to be anomalous. Voltages above membrane thresholds on fruit tissue samples cause membrane disruption and this is studied as an electrical breakdown process. The extreme accuracy of utilized methods elucidate otherwise intangible intracellular morphological changes, including cell transformations caused by chemical and thermal treatments. Dielectric methods are shown as the least invasive, compared with traditional biomedical examinations employing mostly histochemical treatments which alter the structure, at least, by artefacts of space charges of the treatment medium.