The Use of Time Domain Dielectric Spectroscopy to Characterize the Progress of Wound Repair

Abstract

The electrical properties of wounded plant tissue are observed to change during the course of healing. Such changes could serve as an objective measure of the progress of repair. Time domain dielectric spectroscopy is used to rapidly measure these properties. Under microprocessor control a voltage step is applied to a stem and the resulting current-time characteristic sampled. Fourier Transformation yields the variation of stem conductance and capacitance with frequency.