Reversible electroporation study of realistic normal and cancerous cervical cells model using avalanche transistor-based nano pulse generator

Ashutosh Mishra,Mayank Kumar

doi:10.1088/2057-1976/ac240b

Abstract

In this paper, we study the reversible electroporation process on normal and cancerous cervical cells. The 2D contour of the cervical cells is extracted using image processing techniques from the Pap smear images. The conductivity change in the cancer cell model has been used to differentiate the effects of the high-frequency electric field on normal and cancerous cells. The cells’ dielectric constant modulates when this high-frequency pulse is applied based on the Debye relaxation. To computationally visualize the effects of the electroporation on the cell membrane, the Smoluchowski equation is employed to estimate pore density, and Maxwell equations are used to determine the electric potential developed across the membrane of the cervical cell. The results demonstrate the suitability of this mathematical model for studying the response of normal and cancerous cells under electric stress. The electric field is supplied with the help of a realistic pulse generator which is designed on the principle of Marx circuit and avalanche transistor-based operations to produce a Gaussian pulse. The paper here uses a strength-duration curve to differentiate the electric field and time in nanoseconds required to electroporate normal and cancerous cells.

Highlights

The cervical cancer is the most common occurrence in women as per data given[1]
We study the reversible electroporation process on the normal and cancerous cervical cell.The 2D contour of the cervical cells is extracted using image processing techniques from the Pap smear image
The reversible electroporation method can be adopted as it can be used for drug delivery and dyes can be transported to the cytoplasmic area by the formation of pores in the cell membrane if a sufficient electric field is applied for nanosecond time as it generates a transmembrane potential that is around 1V to 1.5 V3–8

Summary

Introduction

The cervical cancer is the most common occurrence in women as per data given[1]. The conventional Pap smear test or liquid cytology-based test is performed which is expensive and the false rate is high around 40. The comparison between the both has been provided by many earlier works[5,7] and it has been found that a low amount of electric field is required by the dispersive model to generate the transmembrane potential. Another major problem is found in the computation as the membrane layer is found to be around 5 nm[5,7] the concept of the thin layer is used to lower the computational requirement

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion