Anomalous power-law behavior in the electrical impedance of endothelial cellular networks

In this paper, we report on the electrical impedance measurement of human endothelial cellular networks and show the existence of emergent power law behavior in its admittance. In particular, we find that the admittance scales with the frequency ω as ωα, with the exponent that varies with the degree of the disruption caused by the inflammation in the endothelial cellular network. We demonstrate that the power law of the measured electrical admittance can be understood by a simple percolation model of a large R–C (resistor–capacitor) network, which allows us to relate quantitatively and the intensity of inflammation. Our results suggest that the electrical properties of heterogeneous biomaterials, like living tissues, behave as a complex microstructural network.