Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy on Capacitively Coupled Electrodes for Cartilaginous Cell Stimulation

Capacitively coupled electrodes emerged as a favorable tool to stimulate cartilaginous cells due to the absence of electrochemical processes at the electrode interface. This increases biocompatibility since no toxic reaction products form inside the chamber. To improve cell stimulation and better understand the device in use, numerical simulations are performed and compared to impedance spectroscopy measurements. Furthermore, impedance spectroscopy provides insight into changes that may occur during cell stimulation experiments. It was found that the simulation of the device was in agreement with the electrical measurements. Furthermore, changes in the electrical conductivity of the medium could be observed in the impedance spectrum. Performance control became feasible as a leakage of the conductive medium could be detected in the impedance spectrum.