Electric field distribution and energy absorption in anisotropic and dispersive red blood cells

Abstract

We have studied the influence of the anisotropic and dispersive nature of the red blood cell structure on the energy absorption and electric field distribution within the cell exposed to electromagnetic fields of frequencies in the range from 50 kHz to 10 GHz. For this purpose we have generated a realistic model of a multilayered erythrocyte cell from a set of parametric equations in terms of Jacobi elliptic functions. The effect of dipole relaxations and anisotropic conductivities is taken into account in the dispersion equations for the conductivity and permittivity of each layer (cytoplasmic and extra-cellular bound waters, membrane, cytoplasm and external medium). Using a finite element numerical technique, we have found that the electric field distribution and the energy absorbed in the membrane show well-defined maxima for both normal and parallel orientations of the external field with respect to the symmetry axis of the cell. The normal and tangential conductivities and permittivities of the membrane are shown to be responsible for the different peak amplitudes and frequency shifts of the maxima. A previously unnoticed effect is that the cell shape combined with the dispersion of the membrane permittivity and the influence of bound water layers leads to a very high amplification factor (greater than 300) of the electric field in the membrane at frequencies in the megahertz range.