Effect of a spherical object in 4 electrode Focused Impedance Method (FIM): measurement and simulation

Focused Impedance Method (FIM) gives enhanced localized sensitivity at the centre of a zone defined by a simple system of electrodes, of which a 4-electrode version with electrodes at the corners of a square region has been studied in detail in the present work. The present work studies the effect of a large sphere whose diameter almost equals the dimensions of the central focused zone, or, the Focused Impedance. The sphere is placed at different positions with respect to the centre of the system at the electrode plane. The study has been made using a phantom in which the electrodes are fixed on a side wall while an insulating ball is hung at various positions inside the saline and moved with respect to the electrodes in their vicinity. The same was then simulated by providing appropriate parameters in COMSOL multiphysics, a software package utilizing Finite Element Method, by providing appropriately matching parameters. The measured impedance decreases as the ball is moved away from the centre in the electrode plane or along the depth. The sensitivity also decreases with an increase in electrode spacing. Although the behaviours were similar in both the studies, simulated values by COMSOL deviated from the measured values significantly. It suggests that COMSOL may not give accurate simulations for large objects.