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Updated: May 18, 2026

Microscale Vortex-assisted Electroporator for Sequential Molecular Delivery
Published on: August 7, 2014
The effect of extracellular conductivity on electroporation-mediated molecular delivery
Jianbo Li1, Wenchang Tan, Miao Yu
1Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 98 Brett Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
Abstract:
In this work, the effect of extra-cellular conductivity on electroporation-mediated molecular delivery efficiency is investigated. A numerical model combining the Smoluchowski equation for membrane permeabilization and the Nernst-Planck equations for ion transport is used to simulate the evolution of ion concentration spatially and temporally. The results are compared with and used to interpret trends observed from previous experimental measurements. Agreements are found which suggest the critical importance of electrophoretic transport. This mechanism controls delivery efficiency on the quantitative level. Meanwhile, a simple formula is developed to predict the molecular content delivered via electrophoresis. The formula can be used as a compact model which provides good approximation to the full numerical model while avoiding the computational cost.
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