Aspects of nonlinear dielectric spectroscopy of biological cell suspensions

Design and evaluation of a fast Fourier transform-based nonlinear dielectric spectrometer

Nonlinear dielectric spectroscopy of micro-organism is carried out by applying a moderate electrical field to an aqueous sample through two metal electrodes. Several ad hoc nonlinear spectrometers were proposed in the literature. However, these designs barely compensated the nonlinear distortion derived from the electrode-electrolyte interfaces (EEI). Moreover, the contribution of the suspension is masked by the effect of the nonlinearity introduced by the electrode contacts. Conversely, the nonlinear capability of a commercial tetrapolar analyzer has not been fully investigated. In this paper a new nonlinear tetrapolar spectrometer is proposed based on a commercial linear apparatus and ad hoc control and signal processing software. The system was evaluated with discrete electronic phantoms and showed that it can measure nonlinear properties of aqueous suspension independently of the presence of EEI (ANOVA test, p>0.001). It was also tested with real aqueous samples. The harmonics observed in the current that circulates through the sample reveals useful information about the transfer function of the sample. The total harmonic distortion was computed for linear mediums. Values lower than -60 dB suggest that the system has enough capability to perform nonlinear microbiological analysis. Design specifications, sources of interference, and equipment's limitations are discussed.

Non-linear dielectric spectroscopy of microbiological suspensions

BACKGROUND

Non-linear dielectric spectroscopy (NLDS) of microorganism was characterized by the generation of harmonics in the polarization current when a microorganism suspension was exposed to a sinusoidal electric field. The biological nonlinear response initially described was not well verified by other authors and the results were susceptible to ambiguous interpretation. In this paper NLDS was performed to yeast suspension in tripolar and tetrapolar configuration with a recently developed analyzer.

METHODS

Tripolar analysis was carried out by applying sinusoidal voltages up to 1 V at the electrode interface. Tetrapolar analysis was carried on with sinusoidal field strengths from 0.1 V cm(-1) to 70 V cm(-1). Both analyses were performed within a frequency range from 1 Hz through 100 Hz. The harmonic amplitudes were Fourier-analyzed and expressed in dB. The third harmonic, as reported previously, was investigated. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) was used to test the effect of inhibitor an activator of the plasma membrane enzyme in the measured response.

RESULTS

No significant non-linearities were observed in tetrapolar analysis, and no observable changes occurred when inhibitor and activator were added to the suspension. Statistical analysis confirmed these results.When a pure sinus voltage was applied to an electrode-yeast suspension interface, variations higher than 25 dB for the 3rd harmonic were observed. Variation higher than 20 dB in the 3rd harmonics has also been found when adding an inhibitor or activator of the membrane-bounded enzymes. These variations did not occur when the suspension was boiled.

DISCUSSION

The lack of result in tetrapolar cells suggest that there is no, if any, harmonic generation in microbiological bulk suspension. The non-linear response observed was originated in the electrode-electrolyte interface. The frequency and voltage windows observed in previous tetrapolar analysis were repeated in the tripolar measurements, but maximum were not observed at the same values.

CONCLUSION

Contrary to previous assertions, no repeatable dielectric non-linearity was exhibited in the bulk suspensions tested under the field and frequency condition reported with this recently designed analyzer. Indeed, interface related harmonics were observed and monitored during biochemical stimuli. The changes were coherent with the expected biological response.