Exposure System for Real-time 5G Electrophysiology Experiments: Numerical and Experimental Characterization

The current adoption of the fifth generation (5G) technology standard requests further studies related to risk assessment. In this context, investigating cellular stress responses, under exposure to new RF-EMF signals, remains pivotal in assessing associated biological effects. Moreover, understanding such a response through real-time electrophysiological studies becomes of paramount importance when excitable cells and ion channels are the favoured targets. In this work, an appropriately shielded-CPW exposure system, targeting 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz frequencies is presented to allow real-time patch-clamp experiments. The system is designed and optimized to avoid EM-coupling both with the electronic equipment of the electrophysiology acquisition system and with the microscope setup to be used for single-cell selection.