Electrical properties of normal cervical human cells in suspension: The relation between normal tissue and electrical impedance spectrum

Abstract

Epidemiological studies have shown that cervical cancer is a public health problem in several countries. Early detection of cervical cancer contributes with a better prognostic to the patient. Traditionally, Pap test has been used to screening cervical cancer and its early detection; however, this test has a low sensitivity and specificity. This work aims to study a new methodology to improve the early detection of premalignant lesions and cervical cancer studying electrical properties of cervical cells in suspension. A statistical analysis of Cole-Cole parameters extracted from electrical impedance spectrum (EIS) was used to study normal cervical cells in order to confirm if these parameters could represent normal cells. The results suggest that proposed methodology is appropriate to study cervical cells in suspension, but a study in abnormal cells is needed to validate the applicability to the early detection of cervical cancer using EIS.