Fig. 2

Cell viability assay of the stimulated artery. Green color indicates intact cells, while red shows cells with compromised cell membrane. a Control with no stimulation (N = 5); b 20 V, 1 ms pulses (N = 5); c 150 V, 10 μs pulses (N = 5); or d 300 V, 10 μs pulses (N = 4). All treatments were applied at 10 Hz for 2 min. The number of compromised cells was normalized by the control. Vessels stimulated by 20 V and 150 V pulses exhibited damage similar to the control (1.1 ± 0.8, 1.2 ± 0.3, and 1.0 ± 0.6 a.u., respectively), while the 300 V stimulation damaged 4.7-fold more cells (4.7 ± 1.6 a.u.; p < 0.05 and F(3,15) = 18.15, using one-way ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer multi-comparison tests)