Membrane dielectric dispersion in nanosecond pulsed electroporation of biological cells

In nanosecond pulsed electroporation of biological cells nanosecond duration pulses with high frequency spectral content are applied to the cell. We show that accurate modeling of the electroporation process on these time scales requires considering the effect of the dielectric dispersion on the electric potential across the membrane. We describe the dielectric relaxation of the membrane as dispersion in the timedomain and incorporate it with the nonlinear asymptotic model of electroporation. Our nonlinear dispersive model of a biological cell is solved using a finite element method enabling arbitrary cell structures and internal organelles to be modeled. Simulation results demonstrate two essential differences between dispersive and non-dispersive membrane models: the process of electroporation occurs faster when membrane dispersion is considered, and the required electric field to electroporate the cell is significantly reduced for the dispersive model.