Electrical impedance measurement system to assess in-situ experiments on epithelia under ELF magnetic fields exposure

Purpose: The development of an electric impedance meter based on the impedance spectroscopy technique, for in vitro and in situ experimentation, with cellular epithelia submitted to extremely low frequency magnetic fields in a controlled environment. Unlike other reported systems, a strength of the one presented here is that it avoids the influence of external factors on the experiment. Materials and methods: The designed system employs the electrical impedance values obtained by the impedance spectroscopy technique to determine the parameters of the simple equivalent electrical model of a cellular monolayer. The Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell cultures were used as subjects of study in the experimental protocol. Results: The validation was carried out by comparing the transepithelial electrical impedance data of the cell cultures obtained with the developed system and those of the Cellzscope® commercial system used as the standard. Non-significant differences were obtained. Conclusion: It was confirmed that the developed system provides reliable values of transepithelial electrical impedance to experiment with cell cultures and take advantage of the controlled environment to reduce the effects of experimental management.