Bioimpedance-Based Measurements of In Vitro Biological Cell Barrier Integrity: A Review and Framework for the Acquisition and Analysis Strategies
is approximated from single-frequency impedance magnitude measurements, which do not isolate the resistive component associated with tight junction-mediated paracellular transport but instead reflect the combined response of a coupled electrochemical system. This review clarifies impedance measuring techniques and systematically analyzes impedance-based measurement and analysis strategies for in vitro biological cell barrier integrity. We compare mono-frequency and broadband acquisition approaches, examine the influence of electrode-electrolyte interfaces, electrode geometry, and culture configuration, and evaluate equivalent circuit modeling and phase-resolved electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Based on this comparison, we propose a three-level analytical hierarchy adapted to experimental objectives and instrumentation constraints. We conclude that phase-informed impedance analysis and harmonized reporting are essential to improve measurement reproducibility, inter-platform comparability, and integration of impedance-derived cell barrier assessment within NAMs-oriented research workflows.
Authors
- Adrien Roux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7618-6129)
- S. Sivakumar
- J. A. Marques
Institutions
- HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (CH)
- HES-SO Genève (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Sensors
- Published
- 2026-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/s26082477
- Primary Topic
- Microfluidic and Bio-sensing Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00