Joule Heating in Pores During Electroporation Is Insufficient to Disrupt the Cell Membrane

The electroporation phenomenon is not yet fully understood. In particular, it remains unclear why cell membrane permeability, as indicated by impedance measurements, continues to increase during electric field exposure and why elevated permeability persists long after the field has been removed. This study conducts a numerical investigation to determine whether Joule heating, which is expected to be intense within the pores formed during electroporation, can produce temperature increases sufficient to locally affect the structural integrity of the cell membrane, potentially serving as a contributing mechanism. To achieve this, an electroporated cell membrane patch containing one or more pores was modeled using the finite element method. The study first simulated the dynamic temperature increase resulting from the application of a 100 µs square electric pulse. Subsequently, static temperature distributions, corresponding to permanent field exposures, were analyzed as a function of pore size, geometry, and density to explore their influence on temperature elevation. The results indicate that the temperature increases are minimal (<0.1 K) and negligible with respect to membrane disruption, suggesting that Joule heating within pores is very unlikely to contribute to the electroporation phenomenon.