Toward an Embedded OFDM-based System for Living Cells Study by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

The following article introduces a wireless and portable system for Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) sensing based on the Orthogonal Frequency-Division Modulation (OFDM). This technique is derived from multi-carrier digital communication methods and due to its properties of flat spectrum, fast generation and low-foot print memory, the OFDM technique for EIS seems to be a real alternative to traditional ones. The manufacture of the OFDM-EIS system is under the framework of the electrical sensing of fibrosis induced by medium to long-term active implants, given that the detection of fibrous tissues surrounding the electrode, that usually affect the operation of the implant, is an open research problem. Because of this, this article defines its performance on living cells under in-vitro experimentation where the proliferation of cells are matched with the results. Furthermore, traditional EIS techniques, such as frequency sweep and multi-sine are compared to OFDM-EIS.