Patch-clamp technique in the study of electromagnetic field effects on biological structures

The patch-clamp technique allows the study of the kinetic and gating behavior of a single ionic channel. The parameters adopted to describe the channel behavior are open time, conductance, and open probability. This work describes the patch-clamp technique as a method to analyze the membrane sensitivity to the electromagnetic field and presents a measurement set-up to apply such technique in bioelectromagnetic research. The set-up components are analyzed stressing how to avoid artifacts during the exposure of the biological sample. Some experimental results obtained exposing quail myotubes to microwaves are reported. These results are discussed in the light of possible interaction mechanisms at cellular level