Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 15, 2025
08:23
Finite Element Modelling of a Cellular Electric Microenvironment
Published on: May 18, 2021
3.5K
Electrical Stimulation of Cells: Drivers, Technology, and Effects
Kian Kadan-Jamal1, Filip Wronowski1, Amy Jin1
1Electrical Engineering, Division Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FA, U.K.
Chemical Reviews
|July 17, 2025
Summary
Electric fields impact cells for medical treatments like Parkinson's disease and cancer, and in cell research. This review explores cellular responses to electric fields and the technologies used for studying them.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Cell Biology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Electric field exposure is integral to diverse applications, including deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease and tumor-treating fields for cancer.
- Electroporation utilizes electric fields for genetic material delivery into cells.
- Electric fields are crucial for studying electrically active cells and inducing cell behavior changes, like neurite outgrowth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the effects of electric fields on cells at acute and longer time scales.
- To discuss the proposed underlying mechanisms responsible for these cellular effects.
- To provide an overview of the technologies employed in studying cell exposure to electric fields, including electrode materials and interfaces.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on cellular responses to electric fields.
- Analysis of proposed mechanisms of action for electric field effects on cells.
- Examination of technological approaches for in vitro and in vivo electric field applications.
Main Results:
- Electric fields elicit diverse acute and long-term effects on cells.
- Various mechanisms are proposed to underlie cellular responses to electric fields.
- A range of technologies, including different metal/electrolyte interfaces and electrode materials, are used to apply and study electric fields.
Conclusions:
- Understanding electric field effects on cells is crucial for advancing therapeutic applications.
- Cross-disciplinary collaboration can foster innovation in the field of electroceuticals.
- Further research into mechanisms and technology can lead to novel clinical interventions.
Related Concept Videos
01:20Motor Unit Stimulation
2.0K
When the neuron of a motor unit fires an action potential, it triggers a series of events, leading to a twitch contraction in the muscle fibers. The process of excitation-contraction coupling is crucial in relaying the action potential to the muscle fibers.
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...
2.0K
01:28Electrical Synapses
8.9K
Electrical synapses found in all nervous systems play important and unique roles. In these synapses, the presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes are very close together (3.5 nm) and are actually physically connected by channel proteins forming gap junctions.
Gap junctions allow the current to pass directly from one cell to the next. In contrast, in the chemical synapse, the neurotransmitters carry the information through the synaptic cleft from one neuron to the next. They consist of two...
Gap junctions allow the current to pass directly from one cell to the next. In contrast, in the chemical synapse, the neurotransmitters carry the information through the synaptic cleft from one neuron to the next. They consist of two...
8.9K