A Microdosimetric Study of Electropulsation on Multiple Realistically Shaped Cells: Effect of Neighbours.

Over the past decades, the effects of ultrashort-pulsed electric fields have been used to investigate their action in many medical applications (e.g. cancer, gene electrotransfer, drug delivery, electrofusion). Promising aspects of these pulses has led to several in vitro and in vivo experiments to clarify their action. Since the basic mechanisms of these pulses have not yet been fully clarified, scientific interest has focused on the development of numerical models at different levels of complexity: atomic (molecular dynamic simulations), microscopic (microdosimetry) and macroscopic (dosimetry). The aim of this work is to demonstrate that, in order to predict results at the cellular level, an accurate microdosimetry model is needed using a realistic cell shape, and with their position and packaging (cell density) characterised inside the medium.