Electrorheological modeling of the permeabilization of the stratum corneum: theory and experiment

Experimentally observed changes in the conductivity of skin under the influence of a pulsing electric field were theoretically analyzed on the basis of a proposed electrorheological model of the stratum corneum (SC). The dependence of relative changes in conductivity on the amplitude of electric field and timelike parameters of applied pulses or pulse trains have been mathematically described. Statistical characteristics of phenomena of transient and long-term electroporation of SC were taken into consideration. The time-dependent decreases of skin resistance depicted by the models were fitted to experimental data for transient and long-term skin permeabilization by electric pulses. The results show two characteristic times and two spectra of characteristic energies for transient and long-term permeabilizations. The rheological parameters derived from the fittings agreed with those reported elsewhere for biological membranes.