Application of electric pulses to cells in doses that cause only temporary permeabilization of CELL MEMBRANES.

A technique in which electric pulses, in kilovolts per centimeter and of microsecond-to-millisecond duration, cause a loss of the semipermeability of CELL MEMBRANES, thus leading to ion leakage, escape of metabolites, and increased uptake by cells of drugs, molecular probes, and DNA. Depending on the dosage, the formation of openings in the cell membranes caused by the electric pulses may or may not be reversible.

Cell permeabilization induced by higher intensity voltages that cause irreparable cell membrane openings which triggers APOPTOSIS.