title: A hybrid numerical method to compute erythrocyte TMP in low-frequency electric fields.
abstract: This paper presents a coupling method of the finite element method and the boundary element method to compute the transmembrane potential (TMP) of an erythrocyte in a low-frequency electric field. We compute an in vitro erythrocyte's TMP induced by external electric fields by this hybrid method. It takes advantage of the homogeneous characteristics from both intracellular region and extracellular region. Moreover, we may use a fine three-dimensional (3-D) mesh around the thin membrane and avoid 3-D meshes in other regions. Numerical results of a spherical cell show that the hybrid method is accurate. The computed threshold of the applied electric field for membrane electric breakdown agrees well with those experimental results. Numerical results can also guide us to locate the maximum induced TMP on the erythrocyte membrane in various electric fields. Some further applications of the hybrid method are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radio-Electronics, College of Electronics and Information Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China. cjliu@scu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Changjun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Dongwoo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sheen
authors.forename: Kama
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009716:Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted; D011829:Radiation Dosage