Influence of Joule heating during single-cell electroporation simulation under IRE and H-FIRE pulses

Conventional irreversible electroporation (IRE) and high-frequency irreversible electroporation (H-FIRE) pulses have been widely employed in many biomedical and food applications. To investigate the effect of Joule heating generated by pulsed electric fields on cell electroporation, single-cell electroporation models without (EP only) and with the consideration of Joule heating (EP+T) were subjected to the equivalent energy IRE and H-FIRE pulses. The simulation results showed that with the consideration of Joule heating, the transmembrane voltage of the anodic point (TMPA) reached the electroporation threshold (similar to 1 V) faster, and a significant increase in the plasma membrane conductivity (sigma(A)) and pore number (k(p)) was found. We further evaluated the effect of the pulse burst repetition frequency (PBRF) of H-FIRE pulses on cell electroporation based on the EP+T model, and discovered k(p) increased with frequency when PBRF lower than 2 kHz, whereas it decreased with frequency for PBRF higher than 2 kHz. The accumulation of the ratio of the perforation area to the cell membrane area (sum of A(p)/A) during the 400th pulse was also reversed when PBRF was 2 kHz. Our results indicated that Joule heating generated by repetitive pulse delivery would facilitate electroporation, and the effect of PBRF on cell electroporation was non-monotonic.

Automated summary

The effect of Joule heating generated by pulsed electric fields on cell electroporation was investigated. It was found that considering Joule heating lowered the electroporation threshold, increased plasma membrane conductivity and pore number. Furthermore, the effect of pulse burst repetition frequency on cell electroporation was found to be non-monotonic.