Numerical study of pore density distribution and pore formation energy

Simulations to quantify the pore density and transmembrane potential due to high-intensity, ultra-short duration electrical pulses have been carried out in the process of electroporation and then pore formation energy is probed by taking account of the strain energy based on the continuum model. Our results demonstrate that pore density would escalate rapidly to higher level though transmembrane potential varies in different membrane surface and the strain energy would lead to pore stability, refraining from pore growth. In addition, calculations show that pore formation energy for one pore system would be higher than that of a two-pore system, and the trend keeps with larger pore radius. It is predicted that the membrane would likely evolve towards high density of multiple pores due to high intensity electric pulses, which is consistent with reports in the literature.