Microwaving Biological Cells: Intracellular Analysis with Microwave Dielectric Spectroscopy

Abstract

Probing biological materials with electromagnetic waves, which has been investigated for decades [1]-[6], involves characterizing the sample with its dielectric properties that are frequency dependent. Dielectric spectroscopy is performed by placing a high-frequency circuit close to the biological species under study. Passing through the biological medium, the electric properties of the biological elements modify the electromagnetic field. The complex permittivity of the medium under test may, therefore, be extracted and provides a dielectric signature of the sample.