Dielectric properties of skeletal muscle during ischemia in the frequency range from 50 Hz to 200 MHz.

The complex dielectric properties of canine skeletal muscles were measured at 25 degrees C during ischemia in the frequency range from 50 Hz to 200 MHz. The dielectric spectrum of skeletal muscle shows an alpha-dispersion below 1 kHz and a beta-dispersion with a relaxation frequency of about 100 kHz. The alpha-dispersion disappears between 450 and 500 min of ischemia time, the same time during which mechanical contraction was observed, and was restored later. During ischemia, the beta-dispersion is shifted continuously to higher frequencies; and at frequencies above 50 MHz, a decrease of the real part of the dielectric permittivity was measured. The dielectric loss factor decreases during ischemia at frequencies below 500 kHz, only interrupted by a short increase, coinciding with the disappearance of the alpha-dispersion. The principal processes that happen during ischemia inside the skeletal muscle tissues were studied with the help of a model especially designed to simulate membrane effects on the dielectric spectrum. The disappearance of the alpha-dispersion is explained by an increase of conductivity in the membrane of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Shifting beta-dispersion to higher frequencies is a result of metabolically produced ions and therefore increasing conductivity of the intracellular medium. Decreasing dielectric permittivity at frequencies above 50 MHz and decreasing dielectric loss factor at low frequencies are caused by the cell edema.