DIELECTRODYNAMICS OF ERYTHROCYTES OF NORMAL AND DISEASED HUMAN BLOOD Abdul Rauf, Ateeba Shazi & Kaleem Ahmed Jaleeli Department of Physics, PYP Jazan University, Jazan, K.S.A Biophysics Unit, Department of Physics, Nizam College (Autonomous), Osmania University, Hyderabad – 500 001, India E-mail: abdul_rauf148@yahoo.com Abstract: The paper reports the data on percentage variation in dielectrodynamic collection rate (DCR) and threshold voltage (V th ) of normal and diseased human erythrocytes. The blood is drawn from healthy persons and from the persons suffering from different diseases. The diseases taken up for the study are Thrombosis, Malaria, Jaundice, Diabetes Mellitus and Cancer. The present study demonstrates that the physiology of erythrocyte membrane is influenced due to disease. The erythrocyte seems to behave as a very sensitive sensor to pick up signals and store them in its membrane due to which it may become more dielectric (in Cancer) or less dielectric (in Malaria, Thrombosis, Jaundice and Diabetes Mellitus) than normal erythrocyte. The dielectrodynamic investigation suggests that the human erythrocyte physiology is perturbed due to disease and these perturbations in cell physiology are mirrored in DCR and threshold voltage spectra. Apart from characterizing the blood cells, the dielectrodynamic investigations could also be extended for monitoring the disease. Keywords: Dielectrodynamics, NUEF, Dielectrodynamic Collection Rate (DCR), Threshold Voltage (V TH ), Human Erythrocytes, Disease. 1. Introduction Dielectrodynamics or Dielectrophoresis is the translational motion of the matter caused by the polarization effects in a non-uniform electric field (a.c or d.c). Non-uniform electric field can be generated by employing different field geometries. The first application of non-uniform electric field effects on biological matter or in other words biological dielectrophoresis was described by Pohl and Pylmale [1]. The separation of living cells from dead was made by Pohl and Hawk [2]. Mason and Twonsley [3] made use of DEP technique to separate living cells and organelles of the same species that differ only in diet. Chen and Pohl [4] described a technique known as single cell dielectrophoresis to find excess permittivity of a single cell. Pohl [5] characterised single cell organism and organelles by their characteristic yield spectra. Eisenstadt and Schienberg [6] determined the diffusion coefficient of proteins in solution. Pohl and his collaborators made dielectrophoretic analysis on biological matter at cellular, particulate and molecular levels. International Journal of Science, Environment ISSN 2278-3687 (O) and Technology, Vol. 2, No 6, 2013, 1388 –1395 Received Nov 8, 2013 * Published Dec 2, 2013 * www.ijset.net