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21

The Electrical
Conductivity of
Tissues
Bradley J. Roth
Oakland University
21.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-1
21.2 Cell Suspensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-2
21.3 Fiber Suspensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-3
21.4 Syncytia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-6
Dening Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-11
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-11
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-11
Further Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-12
21.1 Introduction
One of the most important problems in bioelectric theory is the calculation of the electrical potential,
(V), throughout a volume conductor. The calculation of is important in impedance imaging,
cardiac pacing and debrillation, electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram analysis, and functional
electrical stimulation. In bioelectric problems, often changes slowly enough that we can assume it is
quasistatic [Plonsey, 1969]; we ignore capacitive and inductive effects and the nite speed of propagation
of electromagnetic radiation. (Usually for bioelectric phenomena, this assumption is valid for frequencies
below about 100 kHz.) Under the quasistatic approximation, the continuity equation states that the
divergence, , of the current density, J (A/m
2
), is equal to the applied or endogenous source of electrical
current, S (A/m
3
):
J = S. (21.1)
In regions of tissue where there are no sources, S is zero. In these cases, the divergenceless of J is equivalent
to the law of conservation of current that is often invoked when analyzing electrical circuits. Another
property of a volume conductor is that the current density and the electric eld, E (V/m), are related
linearly by Ohms Law,
J = gE, (21.2)
21-1
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21-2 Biomedical Engineering Fundamentals
where g is the electrical conductivity (S/m). Finally, the relationship between the electric eld and the
gradient, , of the potential is
E = . (21.3)
The purpose of this chapter is to characterize the electrical conductivity. This task is not easy, because g
is generally a macroscopic parameter (aneffective conductivity) that represents the electrical properties
of the tissue averaged over many cells. The effective conductivity can vary with direction, can be complex
(contain real and imaginary parts), and can depend on the temporal and spatial frequencies.
Before discussing the conductivity of tissue, consider one of the simplest and most easily understood
volume conductors: saline. The electrical conductivity of saline arises from the motion of free ions in
response to a steady electric eld, and is on the order of 1 S/m. Besides conductivity, another property
of saline is its electrical permittivity, (S sec/m). This property is related to the dielectric constant,
(dimensionless), by =
0
, where
0
is the permittivity of free space, 8.854 10
12
S sec/m. Dielectric
properties arise from bound charge that is displaced by the electric eld, creating a dipole. They can also
arise if the applied electric eld aligns molecular dipoles (such as the dipole moments of water molecules)
that are normally oriented randomly. The DCdielectric constant of saline is similar to that of water (about
= 80).
The movement of free charge produces conductivity, whereas stationary dipoles produce permittivity.
In steady state, the distinction between the two is clear, but at higher frequencies the concepts merge. In
such a case, we can combine the electrical properties into a complex conductivity, g

:
g

= g +i, (21.4)
where (rad/sec) is the angular frequency ( = 2f , where f is the frequency in Hz) and i is

1. The
real part of g

accounts for the movement of charge in phase with the electric eld; the imaginary part
accounts for out-of-phase motion. Both the real and the imaginary parts of the complex conductivity may
depend on the frequency. For many bioelectric phenomena, the rst term in Equation 21.4 is much larger
than the second, so the tissue can be represented as purely conductive [Plonsey, 1969]. (The imaginary
part of the complex conductivity represents a capacitive effect, and therefore technically violates our
assumption of quasistationarity. This violation is the only exception we will make to our general rule of a
quasistatic potential.)
21.2 Cell Suspensions
The earliest and simplest model describing the electrical conductivity of a biological tissue is a suspension
of cells in a saline solution [Cole, 1968; Peters et al., 2001]. Let us consider a suspension of spherical
(conductivity
e
), while the conducting uid inside the cells constitutes the intracellular space (conduct-
ivity
i
). (We shall follow Henriquez [1993] in denoting macroscopic effective conductivities by g and
microscopic conductivities by .) The cell membrane separates the two spaces; a thin layer having con-
ductivity per unit area G
m
(S/m
2
) and capacitance per unit area C
m
(F/m
2
). One additional parameter
the intracellular volume fraction, f (dimensionless) indicates how tightly the cells are packed together.
The volume fraction can range from nearly zero (a dilute solution) to almost 1. (Spherical cells cannot
approach a volume fraction of 1, but tightly packed, nonspherical cells can). For irregularly shaped cells,
the radius is difcult to dene. In these cases, it is easier to specify the surface-to-volume ratio of the
tissue (the ratio of the membrane surface area to tissue volume). For spherical cells, the surface-to-volume
ratio is 3f /a.
We can dene operationally the effective conductivity, g, of a cell suspension by the following process
(Figure 21.1a): Place the suspension in a cylindrical tube of length L and cross-sectional area A (be sure
L and A are large enough so the volume contains many cells). Apply a DC potential difference V across
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cells, each of radius a (Figure 21.1a). The saline surrounding the cells constitutes the interstitial space
The Electrical Conductivity of Tissues 21-3
(a) (b)
A
a
V
I
V
I
R
e
R
i
C
L
FIGURE21.1 (a) Aschematic diagramof a suspension of spherical cells; the effective conductivity of this suspension
is IL/VA. (b) An electric circuit equivalent of the effective conductivity of this suspension.
the two ends of the cylinder (so that the electric eld has strength V/L) and measure the total current, I ,
passing through the suspension. The effective conductivity is IL/VA.
Deriving an expression for the effective conductivity of a suspension of spheres in terms of microscopic
parameters is an old and interesting problem in electromagnetic theory [Cole, 1968]. For DC elds, the
effective conductivity, g, of a suspension of insulating spheres placed in a solution of conductivity
e
is
g =
2(1 f )
2 +f

e
. (21.5)
For most cells, G
m
is small enoughsothat the membrane behaves as aninsulator, andhence the assumption
of insulating spheres is applicable. The net effect of the cells is to decrease the conductivity of the solution
(the decrease can be substantial for tightly packed cells).
The cell membrane has a capacitance of about 0.01 F/m
2
(or, in traditional units, 1 F/cm
2
), which
causes the electrical conductivity to depend on frequency. The electrical circuit in Figure 21.1b represents
the suspension of cells: R
e
is the effective resistance to current passing entirely through the interstitial
space; R
i
is the effective resistance to current passing into the intracellular space; and C is the effective
membrane capacitance. (The membrane conductance is usually small enough so that it has little effect,
regardless of the frequency.) At low frequencies all of the current is restricted to the interstitial space, and
the electrical conductivity is given approximately by Equation 21.5 above. At high frequencies, C shunts
current across the membrane, so that the effective conductivity of the tissue is:
g =
2(1 f )
e
+(1 +2f )
i
(2 +f )
e
+(1 f )
i

e
. (21.6)
At intermediate frequencies, the effective conductivity has both real and imaginary parts, because the
membrane capacitance contributes signicantly to the effective conductivity. In these cases, Equation 21.6
still holds if
i
is replaced by

i
, where

i
=

i
Y
m
a

i
+Y
m
a
with Y
m
= G
m
+iC
m
. (21.7)
tissue. The increase in the phase at about 300 kHz is sometimes called the beta dispersion.
21.3 Fiber Suspensions
Many of the most interesting electrically active tissues, such as nerve and skeletal muscle, are better approx-
imated as a suspension of cylinders rather than a suspension of spheres. This difference has profound
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Figure 21.2 shows the effective conductivity (magnitude and phase) as a function of frequency for a typical
21-4 Biomedical Engineering Fundamentals
FIGURE 21.2 The magnitude and phase of the effective conductivity as a function of frequency, for a suspension of
spherical cells: f = 0.5; a =20 m;
e
=1 S/m;
i
=0.5 S/m; G
m
=0; and C
m
=0.01 F/m
2
.
implications because it introduces anisotropy. The effective electrical conductivity depends on direction.
Henceforth, we must speak of the longitudinal effective conductivity parallel to the cylindrical bers,
g
L
, and the transverse effective conductivity perpendicular to the bers, g
T
. (In theory, the conductivity
could be different in three directions; however, often the electrical properties in the two directions per-
pendicular to the bers are the same.) In general, the conductivity is no longer a scalar quantity, but is a
tensor instead, and must be represented by a 3 3 symmetric matrix. If our coordinate axes lie along the
principle directions of this matrix (invariably, the directions parallel to and perpendicular to the bers),
then the off-diagonal terms of the matrix are zero. If, however, we choose our coordinate axes differently,
or if the bers curve so that the direction parallel to the bers varies over space, we have to deal with
tensor properties, including off-diagonal components.
When the electric eld is applied perpendicular to the ber direction, a suspension of bers is similar
cross sections of cylindrical bers, rather than spherical cells). The expression for the effective transverse
conductivity of a suspension of cylindrical cells, of radius a and intracellular conductivity
i
, placed in a
solution of conductivity
e
, with intracellular volume fraction f , is [Cole, 1968]
g
T
=
(1 f )
e
+(1 +f )

i
(1 +f )
e
+(1 f )

e
, (21.8)
where Equation 21.7 denes

i
. At DC, and for G
m
= 0, Equation 21.8 reduces to
g
T
=
1 f
1 +f

e
. (21.9)
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to the suspension of cells described above (in Figure 21.1a, we must now imagine that the circles represent
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.1 100
Frequency (kHz)
100,000
g

(
m
a
g
)

S
/
m
20
10
0
0.1 100
Frequency (kHz)
100,000
g

(
p
h
a
s
e
)

(

)
The Electrical Conductivity of Tissues 21-5
r
e
r
m
r
i
C
m
FIGURE21.3 An electrical circuit representing a one-dimensional nerve or muscle ber: r
i
and r
e
are the intracellular
and extracellular resistances per unit length (/m); r
m
is the membrane resistance times unit length ( m); and c
m
is
the membrane capacitance per unit length (F/m).
Whenanelectric eldis appliedparallel tothe ber direction, a newbehavior arises that is fundamentally
different from that observed for a suspension of spherical cells. Return for a moment to our operational
denitionof the effective conductivity. Surprisingly, the effective longitudinal conductivity of a suspension
of bers depends on the length L of the tissue sample used for the measurement. To understand this
dependence, we must consider one-dimensional cable theory [Plonsey, 1969]. The circuit in Figure 21.3a
approximates a single nerve or muscle ber. Adopting the traditional electrophysiology nomenclature, we
denote the intracellular and extracellular resistances per unit length along the ber by r
i
and r
e
(/m),
the membrane resistance times unit length by r
m
( m), and the capacitance per unit length by c
m
(F/m).
The cable equation governs the transmembrane potential, V
m
:

2
V
m
x
2
=
V
m
t
+V
m
, (21.10)
where is the time constant, r
m
c
m
, and is the length constant,

r
m
/(r
i
+r
e
). For a truncated ber of
length L (m) with sealed ends, and with a steady-state current I (A) injected into the extracellular space
at one end and removed at the other, the solution to the cable equation is
V
m
= Ir
e

sinh(x/)
cosh(L/2)
, (21.11)
where the origin of the x-axis is at the midpoint between electrodes. The extracellular potential, V
e
,
consists of two terms: One is proportional to x, and the other is r
e
/(r
i
+r
e
) times V
m
. We can evaluate V
e
at the two ends of the ber to obtain the voltage drop between the electrodes, V
e
V
e
=
r
i
r
e
r
i
+r
e
I

L +
r
e
r
i
2 tanh

L
2

. (21.12)
If L is very large compared to , the extracellular voltage drop reduces to
V
e
=
r
i
r
e
r
i
+r
e
LI L >> . (21.13)
The leading factor is the parallel combination of the intracellular and extracellular resistances. If, on the
other hand, L is very small compared to , the extracellular voltage drop becomes
V
e
= r
e
LI L << . (21.14)
Inthis case, the leading factor is simply the extracellular resistance alone. Physically, there is a redistribution
of current into the intracellular space that occurs over a distance on the order of a length constant. If
the tissue length is much longer than a length constant, the current is redistributed completely between
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21-6 Biomedical Engineering Fundamentals
the intracellular and extracellular spaces. If the tissue length is much smaller than a length constant, the
current does not enter the ber, but instead is restricted to the extracellular space. If either of these two
conditions is met, then the effective conductivity (IL/AV
e
, where A is the cross-sectional area of the
tissue strand) is independent of L. However, if L is comparable to , the effective conductivity depends
on the size of the tissue being studied.
Roth et al. [1988] recast the expression for the effective longitudinal conductivity in terms of spatial
frequency, k (rad/m). This approach has two advantages. First, the temporal and spatial behaviors are
both described using frequency analysis. Second, a parameter describing the size of a specic piece of tissue
is not necessary: the spatial frequency dependence becomes a property of the tissue, not the measurement.
The expression for the DC effective longitudinal conductivity is
g
L
=
(1 f )
e
+f
i
1 +
f
i
(1 f )
e
1
1 +

1
k

2
(21.15)
To relate the effective longitudinal conductivity to Equation 21.13 and Equation 21.14 above, note that
1/k plays the same role as L. If k 1, g
L
reduces to (1 f )
e
+ f
i
, which is equivalent to the
parallel combination of resistances in Equation 21.13. If k 1, g
L
becomes (1 f )
e
, implying that the
current is restricted to the interstitial space, as in Equation 21.14. Equation 21.15 can be generalized to all
temporal frequencies by dening in terms of Y
m
instead of G
m
the magnitude and phase of the longitudinal and transverse effective conductivities as functions of the
temporal and spatial frequencies.
The measurement of effective conductivities is complicatedby the traditionally usedelectrode geometry.
Typically, one uses a four-electrode technique [Steendijk et al., 1993], inwhichtwoelectrodes inject current
electrical properties of skeletal muscle and found that the effective conductivity depended on the interelec-
trode distance. Roth [1989] reanalyzed Gielen et al.s data using the spatial frequency dependent model
contains typical values of skeletal muscle effective conductivities and microscopic tissue parameters.
21.4 Syncytia
Cardiac tissue is different from the other tissues we have discussed in that it is an electrical syncytium: the
cells are coupled through intercellular junctions. The bidomain model describes the electrical properties
of cardiac muscle [Henriquez, 1993]. It is essentially a two- or three-dimensional cable model that takes
concept of current redistribution, discussed earlier in the context of the longitudinal effective conductivity
of a suspension of bers, now applies in all directions. Furthermore, cardiac muscle is markedly aniso-
tropic. These properties make impedance measurements of cardiac muscle difcult to interpret [Plonsey
and Barr, 1986; Le Guyader et al., 2001]. The situation is complicated further because the intracellular
space is more anisotropic than is the interstitial space (in the jargon of bidomain modeling, this con-
dition is known as unequal anisotropy ratios) [Roth, 1997]. Consequently, an expression for a single
effective conductivity for cardiac muscle is difcult, if not impossible, to derive. In general, one must
solve a pair of coupled partial differential equations simultaneously for the intracellular and interstitial
potentials.
The bidomain model characterizes the electrical properties of the tissue by four effective conductivities:
g
iL
, g
iT
, g
eL
, and g
eT
, where i and e denote the intracellular and interstitial spaces, and L and T denote the
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Table 21.2 lists nerve effective conductivities.
[Roth et al., 1988]. Figure 21.4 shows
and two others measure the potential (Figure 21.5). Gielen et al. [1984] used this method to measure the
and found agreement with some of the more unexpected features or their data (Figure 21.6). Table 21.1
into account the resistance of both the intracellular and the interstitial spaces (Figure 21.7). Thus, the
The Electrical Conductivity of Tissues 21-7
0.7
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
1
1
10
1
10
1
10
2
10
3
10
4
10
5
10
6
10
2
10
3
k, 1/m
k, 1/m
10
4
10
5
10
6
s
z
b
s
z
b
1/m
v

1
/
s
e
c
1
1
10
1
10
1
10
2
10
3
10
4
10
5
10
6
10
2
10
3
k, 1/m
10
4
10
5
10
6
v

1
/
s
e
c
1.0
90
0
5
10
15
20
60
30
0
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.1
0.2
1
1
10
1
10
1
10
2
10
3
10
4
10
5
10
6
10
2
10
3
10
4
10
5
10
6
k, 1/m
1 10
1
10
2
10
3
10
4
10
5
10
6
s
r
b
s
r
b
1/m
v

1
/
s
e
c
1
10
1
10
2
10
3
10
4
10
5
10
6
v

1
/
s
e
c
Phase
of
Phase
of
FIGURE 21.4 The magnitude (a), (c) and phase (b), (d) of the effective longitudinal (a), (b) and transverse (c), (d)
effective conductivities, calculated using the spatial, k, and temporal, , frequency model. The parameters used in this
calculation are G
m
=1 S/m
2
; C
m
=0.01 F/m
2
; f =0.9; a =20 m;
i
=0.55 S/m; and
e
=2 S/m. (From Roth, B.J.,
Gielen, F.L.H., and Wikswo, J.P., Jr. 1988. Math. Biosci. 88: 159189. With permission.)
V
I
s
FIGURE 21.5 A schematic diagram of the four-electrode technique for measuring tissue conductivities. Current, I ,
is passed through the outer two electrodes, and the potential, V, is measured between the inner two. The interelectrode
distance is s.
directions parallel to and perpendicular to the myocardial bers. We can relate these parameters to the
microscopic tissue properties by using an operational denition of an effective bidomain conductivity,
similar to the operational denition given earlier. To determine the interstitial conductivity, rst dissect a
cylindrical tube of tissue of length L and cross-sectional area A (one must be sure that L and A are large
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21-8 Biomedical Engineering Fundamentals
FIGURE21.6 The calculated (a) amplitude and (b) phase of g
L
(solid) and g
T
(dashed) as a function of frequency, for
an interelectrode distance of 0.5 mm; (c) and (d) show the quantities for an interelectrode distance of 3.0 mm. Circles
represent experimental data; g
L
(lled), g
T
(open). (From Roth, B.J. 1989. Med. Biol. Eng. Comput., 27: 491495. With
permission.)
TABLE 21.1 Skeletal Muscle
Macroscopic effective conductivities (S/m)
g
L
g
T
Note Reference
0.35 0.086 10 Hz, IED =3 mm Gielen et al. [1984]
0.20 0.092 10 Hz, IED =0.5 mm
0.52 0.076 20 Hz, IED =17 mm Epstein and Foster [1983]
0.70 0.32 100 kHz, IED =17 mm
0.67 0.040 0.1 sec pulse Rush et al. [1963]
Microscopic tissue parameters

i

e
f C
m
G
m
References
(S/m) (S/m) (F/m
2
) (S/m
2
)
0.55 2.4 0.9 0.01 1.0 Gielen et al. [1986]
Note: IED = interelectrode distance.
enough so the volume contains many cells, and that the dissection does not damage the tissue). Next,
apply a drug to the tissue that makes the membrane essentially insulating (i.e., the length constant is much
longer than L). Finally, apply a DCpotential difference, V, across the two ends of the cylinder and measure
the total current, I . The effective interstitial conductivity is IL/VA. This procedure must be performed
twice, once with the bers parallel to the axis of the cylinder, and once with the bers perpendicular to it.
To determine the effective intracellular conductivities, follow the above procedure but apply the voltage
difference to the intracellular space instead of the interstitial space. Although the procedure would be
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1 (a)
0.5
0.3
0.2
0.1
1 10 100 1,000 10,000
S
/
m
40
(b)
20
0
20
P
h
a
s
e

(

)
1
(c)
0.5
0.3
0.2
0.1
S
/
m
40
(d)
20
0
20
P
h
a
s
e

(

)
f (Hz)
1 10 100 1,000 10,000
f (Hz)
1
10 100 1,000 10,000
f (Hz)
1 10 100 1,000 10,000
f (Hz)
The Electrical Conductivity of Tissues 21-9
TABLE 21.2 Nerve
Macroscopic effective conductivities (S/m)
g
L
g
T
Note Reference
0.41 0.01 Toad sciatic nerve Tasaki [1964]
0.57 0.083 Cat dorsal column, 10 Hz Ranck and BeMent [1965]
Microscopic tissue parameters

i
(S/m)
e
(S/m) f C
m
(F/m
2
) G
m
(S/m
2
) Reference
0.64 1.54 0.35 1 0.44 Roth and Altman [1992]
Note: Volume fraction of myelin = 0.27, G
m
is proportional to axon diameter; the
above value is for an axon with outer diameter of 6.5 m.
FIGURE 21.7 A circuit representing a two-dimensional syncytium (i.e., a bidomain). The lower array of resistors
represents the intracellular space, the upper array represents the extracellular space, and the parallel resistors and
capacitors represent the membrane.
extraordinarily difcult in practice, we can imagine two arrays of microelectrodes that impale the cells at
both ends of the cylinder and maintain a constant potential at each end.
Expressions have been derived for the effective bidomain conductivities in terms of the microscopic
tissue parameters [Roth, 1988; Henriquez, 1993; Neu and Krassowska, 1993]. The effective conductivities
in the direction parallel to the bers are simplest. Imagine that the tissue is composed of long, straight
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21-10 Biomedical Engineering Fundamentals
TABLE 21.3 Cardiac Muscle
Macroscopic effective conductivities (ventricular muscle) (S/m)
g
iL
g
iT
g
eL
g
eT
Reference
0.17 0.019 0.62 0.24 Clerc
0.28 0.026 0.22 0.13 Roberts et al.
0.34 0.060 0.12 0.080 Roberts and Scher
Microscopic tissue parameters

i

e
f a b G Reference
(S/m) (S/m) (m) (m) (S)
1 1 0.7 100 10 3 Roth [1988]
0.4 2 0.85 100 7.5 0.05 Neu and Krassowska [1993]
bers (like skeletal muscle) and that the intracellular space of these bers occupies a fraction f of the
tissue cross-sectional area. If the conductivity of the interstitial uid is
e
, then the effective interstitial
conductivity parallel to the bers, g
eL
, is simply
g
eL
=

1 f

e
. (21.16)
If we neglect the resistance of the gap junctions, we obtain a similar expression for the effective
intracellular conductivity parallel to the bers in terms of the myoplasmic conductivity,
i
: g
iL
= f
i
.
When the gap junctional resistance is not negligible compared to the myoplasmic resistance, the expression
for g
iL
is more complicated:
g
iL
=
1
1 +(a
2

i
)/(bG)
f
i
, (21.17)
where G is the junctional conductance between two cells (S), b is the cell length (m), and a is the cell
radius (m).
The effective interstitial conductivity perpendicular to the bers is identical with the DC transverse
effective conductivity for skeletal muscle given in Equation 21.9
g
eT
=
1 f
1 +f

e
. (21.18)
The effective intracellular conductivity perpendicular to the bers is the most difcult to model, but a
reasonable expression for g
iT
is
g
iT
=
1
1 +(b
i
)/G

i
. (21.19)
of the microscopic tissue parameters are also given in Table 21.3, although some are quite uncertain
(particularly G).
If the intercellular junctions contribute signicantly to the intracellular resistance, the bidomain model
only approximates the tissue behavior [Neu and Krassowska, 1993]. For sufciently large junctional
resistance, the discrete cellular properties become important, and a continuummodel no longer represents
the tissue well. Interestingly, as the junctional resistance increases, cardiac tissue behaves less like a
syncytium and more like a suspension of cells. Thus we have come a full circle. We started by considering
a suspension of cells, then examined suspensions of bers, and nally generalized to syncytia. Yet, when
the intercellular junctions in a syncytium are disrupted, we nd ourselves again thinking of the tissue as a
suspension of cells.
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Table 21.3 contains measured values of the bidomain conductivities (see also Roth [1997]). Typical values
The Electrical Conductivity of Tissues 21-11
Dening Terms
Anisotropy: Having different properties in different directions.
Bidomain: A two- or three-dimensional cable model that takes into account the resistance of both the
intracellular and the extracellular spaces.
Cable theory: Representation of a cylindrical ber as two parallel rows of resistors (one each for the
intracellular and extracellular spaces) connected in a ladder network by a parallel combination of
resistors and capacitors (the cell membrane).
Conservation of current: A fundamental law of electrostatics, stating that there is no net current
entering or leaving at any point in a volume conductor.
Conductivity: A parameter (g) that measures how well a substance conducts electricity. The coefcient
of proportionality between the electric eld and the current density. The units of conductivity are
siemens per meter (S/m). A siemens is an inverse ohm, sometimes called a mho in the older
literature.
Interstitial space: The extracellular space between cells in a tissue.
Ohms law: A linear relation between the electric eld and current density vectors.
Permittivity: A parameter () that measures the size of the dipole moment induced in a substance by
an electric eld. The units of permittivity are siemens second per meter (S sec/m), or farads per
meter (F/m).
Quasistatic: A potential distribution that changes slowly enough that we can accurately describe it by
the equations of electrostatics (capacitive, inductive, and propagation effects are ignored).
Spatial frequency: A parameter governing how rapidly a function changes in space; k = 1/(2/s), where
s is the wavelength of a sinusoidally varying function.
Syncytium (pl., syncytia): A tissue in which the intracellular spaces of adjacent cells are coupled through
intercellular channels, so that current canpass betweenany two intracellular points without crossing
the cell membrane.
Volume conductor: A three-dimensional region of space containing a material that passively conducts
electrical current.
Acknowledgments
I thank Dr. Craig Henriquez for several suggestions and corrections, and Barry Bowman for carefully
editing the manuscript.
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Further Information
Mathematics and Physics
Jackson, J.D. Classical Electrodynamics, 3rd ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1999. (The classic graduate
level physics text.)
Purcell, E.M. Electricity and Magnetism, Berkeley Physics Course, Vol. 2, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New
York, 1963. (A wonderfully written undergraduate physics text full of physical insight.)
Schey, H.M. Div, Grad, Curl and All That, 3rd ed., Norton, New York, 1997. (An accessible and useful
introduction to vector calculus.)
Bioelectric Phenomena and Tissue Models
The texts by Cole and Plonsey, cited above, are classics in the eld.
Gabriel, C., Gabriel, S., and Corthout, E. 1996. The dielectric properties of biological tissues: I. Literature
survey. Phys. Med. Biol. 41: 22312249.
Geddes, L.A. and Baker, L.E. 1967. The specic resistance of biologic material a compendium of
data for the biomedical engineer and physiologist. Med. Biol. Eng. Comput. 5: 271293. (Measured
conductivity values for a wide variety of tissues.)
2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
The Electrical Conductivity of Tissues 21-13
Plonsey, R. and Barr, R.C. Bioelectricity, A Quantitative Approach, 2nd ed., Plenum Press, NewYork, 2000.
(An updated version of Plonseys Bioelectric Phenomena, and a standard textbook for bioelectricity
courses.)
Polk, C. and Postow, E. (Eds.) CRC Handbook of Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields, CRC Press,
Boca Raton, FL, 1986.
Journals: IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing,
Annals of Biomedical Engineering.
2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

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