Table of contents

Over recent years advanced measurement methods have facilitated outstanding achievements not only in medical instrumentation but also in biotechnology. Impedance measurement is a simple and innocuous way to characterize materials. For more than 40 years biological materials, most of them based on cells, have been characterized by means of electrical impedance for quality control of agricultural products, monitoring of biotechnological or food processes or in health care. Although the list of possible applications is long, very few applications successfully entered the market before the turn of the century. This was, on the one hand, due to the low specificity of electrical impedance with respect to other material properties because it is influenced by multiple factors. On the other hand, equipment and methods for many potential applications were not available.

With the appearance of microcontrollers that could be easily integrated in applications at the beginning of the 1980s, impedance measurement advanced as a valuable tool in process optimization and lab automation. However, established methods and data processing were mostly used in a new environment. This has changed significantly during the last 10 years with a dramatic growth of the market for medical instrumentation and also for biotechnological applications. Today, advanced process monitoring and control require fast and highly parallel electrical characterization which in turn yields incredible data volumes that must be handled in real time.

Many newer developments require miniaturized but precise sensing methods which is one of the main parts of Lab-on-Chip technology. Moreover, biosensors increasingly use impedometric transducers, which are not compatible with the large expensive measurement devices that are common in the laboratory environment.

Following the achievements in the field of bioimpedance measurement, we will now witness a dramatic development of new electrode structures and electronics. Structures down to sub-micrometer range and complex impedance measurements tools integrated at single chips are now affordable.

Moreover, the introduction of alternative signals and data processing algorithms focuses on very fast and parallel electrical characterization which in turn pushes this technique to new applications and markets. Electrical impedance tomography today yields pictures in real time with a resolution that was impossible 10 years ago.

The XVth International Conference on Electrical Bio-Impedance in conjunction with the XIVth Electrical Impedance Tomography ICEBI/EIT 2013 organized by the Institute for Bioprocessing and Analytical Measurement Techniques, Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany, together with the EIT-group at the University of Göttingen, Germany, brings world leading scientists in these fields together. It is a platform to present the latest developments in instrumentation and signal processing but also points to new applications, especially in the field of biosensors and non-linear phenomena.

Two Keynote lectures will extend the view of the participants above the mainstream of bio-impedance measurement. Friederich Kremer (University of Leipzig) delivers the plenary lecture on broad bandwidth dielectric spectroscopy. New achievements in the research of ligand gated ionic channels will be presented by Klaus Benndorf (University of Jena).

Leading scientists in the field of bio-impedance measurement, such as, Sverre Grimnes, Orjan Martinsen, Andrea Robitzki, Richard Bayford, Jan Gimsa and Mart Min will give lectures for students but also more experienced scientists in a pre-conference tutorial which is a good opportunity to learn or refresh the basics.

List of committees Conference Chair Dr Uwe Pliquett Professor Dieter Beckmann Institut für Bioprozess- und Analysenmesstechnik eV, Rosenhof, Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany

Technical Program Chair Maik Hiller Conventus Congressmanagement & Marketing GmbH, Carl-Pulfrich-Str. 1 – 07745 Jena

Pre-Conference Tutorial Coordinator Uwe Pliquett

International Advisory committee Kenneth R Foster, USA Sverre Grimnes, Norway David Holder, UK Alexander V Korjenewski, Russia Ørjan G Martinsen, Norway Mart Min, Estonia Stig Ollmar, Sweden Tadeusz Palko, Poland Pere J Riu, Spain Andrea Robitzki, Germany Hermann Scharfetter, Austria Leigh C Ward, Australia

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The attached PDF contains the text of the pre-conference tutorials.

All papers published in this volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series have been peer reviewed through processes administered by the proceedings Editors. Reviews were conducted by expert referees to the professional and scientific standards expected of a proceedings journal published by IOP Publishing.

In this work, an adaptive unstructured tetrahedral mesh generation technology is applied for simulation of segmental bioimpedance measurements using high-resolution whole-body model of the Visible Human Project man. Sensitivity field distributions for a conventional tetrapolar, as well as eight- and ten-electrode measurement configurations are obtained. Based on the ten-electrode configuration, we suggest an algorithm for monitoring changes in the upper lung area.

This paper describes the local polynomial method (LPM) for estimating the time-invariant bioimpedance frequency response function (FRF) considering both the output-error (OE) and the errors-in-variables (EIV) identification framework and compare it with the traditional cross— and autocorrelation spectral analysis techniques. The bioimpedance FRF is measured with the multisine electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. To show the overwhelming accuracy of the LPM approach, both the LPM and the classical cross— and autocorrelation spectral analysis technique are evaluated through the same experimental data coming from a nonsteady-state measurement of time-varying in vivo myocardial tissue. The estimated error sources at the measurement frequencies due to noise, σⁿ_Z, and the stochastic nonlinear distortions, σ_Z^NL, have been converted to Ω and plotted over the bioimpedance spectrum for each framework. Ultimately, the impedance spectra have been fitted to a Cole impedance model using both an unweighted and a weighted complex nonlinear least square (CNLS) algorithm. A table is provided with the relative standard errors on the estimated parameters to reveal the importance of which system identification frameworks should be used.

Bioimpedance spectroscopy is a known option for measuring body fluid volume. However, it is prone to a variety of influence factors which prevent a wider use. One of these influencing factors is the body posture. It could be shown that the average intracellular resistance percentage changes when the subject changes position from lying to standing. Most authors explain this phenomenon by fluid shifts. Another possible reason is the stray capacitance between the body and the ground, because if a certain fraction of the injected current follows other paths than between the potential electrodes, the result will be wrong. This paper analyses the influence of different body postures on the measured intracellular resistance and the posture depending capacity. For this purpose, FEM simulations are used. Subsequently, an electrical equivalent model with capacitances was developed. With this model, it is possible to correct the measured impedance and to neglect the influence of the stray capacitance.

Impedance measurements based on magnetic induction for breast cancer detection has been proposed in some studies. This study evaluates theoretical and experimentally the use of a non-invasive technique based on magnetic induction for detection of patho-physiological conditions in breast cancer tissue associated to its volumetric electrical conductivity changes through inductive phase shift measurements. An induction coils-breast 3D pixel model was designed and tested. The model involves two circular coils coaxially centered and a human breast volume centrally placed with respect to the coils. A time-harmonic numerical simulation study addressed the effects of frequency-dependent electrical properties of tumoral tissue on the volumetric inductive phase shift of the breast model measured with the circular coils as inductor and sensor elements. Experimentally; five female volunteer patients with infiltrating ductal carcinoma previously diagnosed by the radiology and oncology departments of the Specialty Clinic for Women of the Mexican Army were measured by an experimental inductive spectrometer and the use of an ergonomic inductor-sensor coil designed to estimate the volumetric inductive phase shift in human breast tissue. Theoretical and experimental inductive phase shift estimations were developed at four frequencies: 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 MHz. The theoretical estimations were qualitatively in agreement with the experimental findings. Important increments in volumetric inductive phase shift measurements were evident at 0.01MHz in theoretical and experimental observations. The results suggest that the tested technique has the potential to detect pathological conditions in breast tissue associated to cancer by non-invasive monitoring. Further complementary studies are warranted to confirm the observations.

The frequency behaviour of biological tissues is commonly described by a Cole model reflecting a single-cell bio-impedance model extended with an exponent α. However, for this parameter α there is no physical or biological substrate, which impedes an interpretation. The present study confirms by computer simulations of tissue models that the factual frequency behaviour can be explained by assuming a distribution of the electrical impedance properties of cells and of the capacitive coupling between cells. This behaviour is modelled mathematically by an ellipse. A mathematical procedure is presented to estimate this ellipse from experimental data by a least square method. A model parameter β is introduced, representing the ratio of the axes of the ellipse. A higher value of β means a larger variation in cell properties, which makes a patho-physiological interpretation of changes possible.

Weakly Electric Fish (WEF) emit an Electric Organ Discharge (EOD), which travels through the surrounding water and enables WEF to locate nearby objects or to communicate between individuals. Previous tracking of WEF has been conducted using infrared (IR) cameras and subsequent image processing. The limitation of visual tracking is its relatively low frame-rate and lack of reliability when visually obstructed. Thus, there is a need for reliable monitoring of WEF location and behaviour. The objective of this study is to provide an alternative and non-invasive means of tracking WEF in real-time using neural networks (NN). This study was carried out in three stages. First stage was to recreate voltage distributions by simulating the WEF using EIDORS and finite element method (FEM) modelling. Second stage was to validate the model using phantom data acquired from an Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) based system, including a phantom fish and tank. In the third stage, the measurement data was acquired using a restrained WEF within a tank. We trained the NN based on the voltage distributions for different locations of the WEF. With networks trained on the acquired data, we tracked new locations of the WEF and observed the movement patterns. The results showed a strong correlation between expected and calculated values of WEF position in one dimension, yielding a high spatial resolution within 1 cm and 10 times higher temporal resolution than IR cameras. Thus, the developed approach could be used as a practical method to non-invasively monitor the WEF in real-time.

The impedance cardiography (ICG) is widely used for beat-to-beat noninvasive evaluation of the left ventricular stroke volume and contractility. It implies the correct determination of the ejection start and end points and the amplitudes of certain peaks in the differentiated impedance cardiogram. An accurate identification of ejection onset by ICG is often problematic, especially in the cardiologic patients, due to peculiar waveforms. Using a simple theoretical model, we tested the hypothesis that two major processes are responsible for the formation of impedance systolic wave: (1) the changes in the heart geometry and surrounding vessels produced by ventricular contraction, which occur during the isovolumic phase and precede ejection, and (2) expansion of aorta and adjacent arteries during the ejection phase. The former process initiates the preejection wave W_pE and the latter triggers the ejection wave W_Ej. The model predicts a potential mechanism of generating the abnormal shapes of dZ/dt due to the presence of preejection waves and explains the related errors in ICG time and amplitude parameters. An appropriate decomposition method is a promising way to avoid the masking effects of these waves and a further step to correct determination of the onset of ejection and the corresponding peak amplitudes from 'pathologically shaped' ICG signals.

Application of bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) for continuous monitoring of body fluid volumes is gaining considerable importance in personal health care. Unless laboratory conditions are applied, both whole-body or segmental BIS configurations are subject to nonspecific influences (e.g. temperature and change in body position) reducing the method's accuracy and reproducibility. In this work, a two-compartment mathematical model, which describes the thigh segment, has been adapted to simulate fluid and solute kinetics during change in body position or variation in skin temperature. The model is an improved version of our previous one offering a good tradeoff between accuracy and simplicity. It represents the kinetics of fluid redistribution, sodium-, potassium-, and protein-concentrations based on simple equations to predict the time course of BIS variations. Validity of the model was verified in five subjects (following a sequence of 7 min supine, 20 min standing, and 40 min supine). The output of the model may reduce possible influences on BIS by up to 80%.

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.

This paper describes numerical simulations of the influence of conductivity changes inside a volume conductor on impedance changes measured on its surface. A simple model based on the finite element method has been developed to estimate an applicability of the effective conductivity theory in human chest modeling. The model consisted of a cylinder with two concentric spheres inside. Simulations were performed for two cases: first the geometry was changing and material properties were constant within each subdomain, next, the geometry was constant but conductivity values were changing for each phase of cardiac cycle. In the considered range of geometry changes dependence between impedance changes calculated for two models was linear. Performed simulations showed that effective conductivity approach can be utilized when studying dynamic processes involved by volume changes of internal organs.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is an attractive method for clinical monitoring of patients during mechanical ventilation. This study evaluates lung impedance measurements using Dräger PulmoVista 500 EIT system on an animal model. Mechanically ventilated model was created. Vital signs were monitored as well as mechanical ventilation parameters. Extracellular fluid balance and blood volume were handled as follows: 30–40% of total blood volume were removed and returned back, 0.5 to 1 litre of Ringer's solution was injected afterwards. The quantity of injected fluids was recorded for each animal. During this process thoracic electrical impedance measurement was performed. Recorded data from PulmoVista 500 EIT system were analysed using the official Dräger EIT Data Analysis Tool. The dependency of end-expiratory lung impedance on the change of fluid balance was observed. The relation between end-expiratory (minimum impedance value) frames and changes of fluid balance is shown. Preliminary results strongly support the expectation that electrical impedance of thorax can be affected by total extracellular fluid change.

Children differ from adults in head size, skull morphology, and tissue conductivity. We conducted a simulation to examine the error of source localization when a rescaled adult head model and different skull conductivities are used for EEG source localization in children. We have proven by simulation that source localization accuracy is the best with an infant specific head model including the age specific skull structure and conductivity.

In this paper, we present a new bio-impedance monitor for wearable and continuous monitoring applications. The system consumes less than 14.4mW when measuring impedance, and 0.9mW when idling. Its compact size (4.8cm × 3cm × 2cm) makes it suitable for portable and wearable use. The proposed system has an accuracy of 0.5Ω and resolution of 0.2Ω on both resistance (R) and reactance (X) measurements, for impedance ranging between (j0.7)Ω to (54+j5)Ω with 2.9<φ<5.7. We also report the results of the system validation using passive loads as human tissue model, and show our wireless and miniaturized bio-impedance monitoring system has comparable performances with a reference system.

The AFE4300 is a new low-cost on-chip impedance spectrometer developed by Texas Instruments able to handle multiple four electrode interface measurements. In this work, we present a brief description and characterization of this device and, besides its interesting features as a body-composition impedancemeter system; we evaluate its potential to develop minimal implementations for other biomedical applications. As the case study presented in this paper, its use to monitor ventilatory time-varying bioimpedance.

The assessment of mental stress on workers under hard and stressful conditions is critical to identify which workers are not ready to undertake a mission that might put in risk their own life and the life of others. The ATREC project aims to enable Real Time Assessment of Mental Stress of the Spanish Armed Forces during military activities. Integrating sensors with garments and using wearable measurement devices, the following physiological measurements were recorded: heart and respiration rate, skin galvanic response as well as peripheral temperature. The measuring garments are the following: a sensorized glove, an upper-arm strap and a repositionable textrode chest strap system with 6 textrodes. The implemented textile-enabled instrumentation contains: one skin galvanometer, two temperature sensors, for skin and environmental, and an Impedance Cardiographer/Pneumographer containing a 1 channel ECG amplifier to record cardiogenic biopotentials. The implemented wearable systems operated accordingly to the specifications and are ready to be used for the mental stress experiments that will be executed in the coming phases of the project in healthy volunteers.

In this paper, we present the design, realization and evaluation of a multichannel measurement system based on a cost-effective high-performance integrated circuit for electrical bioimpedance (EBI) measurements in the frequency range from 1 kHz to 1 MHz, and a low-cost commercially available radio frequency transceiver device, which provides reliable wireless communication. The resulting on-chip spectrometer provides high measuring EBI capabilities and constitutes the basic node to built EBI wireless sensor networks (EBI-WSNs). The proposed EBI-WSN behaves as a high-performance wireless multichannel EBI spectrometer where the number of nodes, i.e., number of channels, is completely scalable to satisfy specific requirements of body sensor networks. One of its main advantages is its versatility, since each EBI node is independently configurable and capable of working simultaneously. A prototype of the EBI node leads to a very small printed circuit board of approximately 8 cm² including chip-antenna, which can operate several years on one 3-V coin cell battery. A specifically tailored graphical user interface (GUI) for EBI-WSN has been also designed and implemented in order to configure the operation of EBI nodes and the network topology. EBI analysis parameters, e.g., single-frequency or spectroscopy, time interval, analysis by EBI events, frequency and amplitude ranges of the excitation current, etc., are defined by the GUI.

In this work we investigate the use of microwave frequency range to measure the concentration of cells in a biological cell suspension. A theoretical model is discussed and the advantage of high frequency, which is to avoid dispersion mechanisms due to the cell parameters at lower frequencies (for example membrane capacitance), has been described. Interdigitated capacitor (IDC) has been proposed as the sensor for analysing the concentration of a cell species in the suspension. The read-out circuit is a VCO using the IDC and a pair of inductors as resonator. The capacitance of the IDC which is the function of the permittivity of the biological cell suspension determines the resonant frequency of the LC tank oscillator. Thus the concentration of cells in a solution, affecting its permittivity, is read out as the frequency of the oscillator.

Transthoracic impedance spectroscopy (TIS) measurements from wearable textile electrodes provide a tool to remotely and non-invasively monitor patient health. However, breathing and cardiac processes inevitably affect TIS measurements, since they are sensitive to changes in geometry and air or fluid volumes in the thorax. This study aimed at investigating the effect of respiration on Cole parameters extracted from TIS measurements and developing a method to suppress artifacts. TIS data were collected from 10 participants at 16 frequencies (range: 10 kHz − 1 MHz) using a textile electrode system (Philips Technologie Gmbh). Simultaneously, breathing volumes and frequency were logged using an electronic spirometer augmented with data from a breathing belt. The effect of respiration on TIS measurements was studied at paced (10 and 16 bpm) deep and shallow breathing. These measurements were repeated for each subject in three different postures (lying down, reclining and sitting). Cole parameter estimation was improved by assessing the tidal expiration point thus removing breathing artifacts. This leads to lower intra-subject variability between sessions and a need for less measurements points to accurately assess the spectra. Future work should explore algorithmic artifacts compensation models using breathing and posture or patient contextual information to improve ambulatory transthoracic impedance measurements.

When a Howland source is designed, the components are chosen so that the designed source has the desired characteristics. However, the operational amplifier limitations and resistor tolerances causes undesired behaviours. This work proposes to take in account the influence of the random distribution of the commercial resistors in the Howland circuit over the frequency range of 10 Hz to 10 MHz. The probability density function due to small changes over the resistors was calculated by using an analytical model. Results show that both output current and impedance are very sensitive to the resistor tolerances. It is shown that the output impedance is very dependent on the open-loop gain of the Opamp rather than the resistor tolerances, especially at higher frequencies. This might improve the implementations of real current source used in electrical bioimpedance.

Non-invasive bioimpedance measurement as a tool in biomedical engineering and life sciences allows conclusions about condition and composition of living tissue. For interfacing the electronic conduction of the instrumentation and the ionic conduction of the tissue, electrodes are needed. A crucial point is the uncertainty arising from the unknown, time-varying and current density depend Electrode Skin Impedance (ESI). This work presents ESI measurements using carbon rubber electrodes on different human test subjects. The measurements for this work are carried out by employing a high accuracy Bioimpedance Measurement System (BMS) developed by the authors group, which is based on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) System on Chip (SoC). The system is able to measure magnitude and phase of complex impedances using a two- or four-electrode setup, with excitation currents from 60 μA to 5 mA in a frequency range from about 10 kHz to 300 kHz. Achieved overall measurement uncertainties are below 1%.

Electrical impedance myography (EIM) is a bioelectrical impedance technique focused on the assessment of neuromuscular diseases using tetrapolar surface arrays. Recently, we have shown that reproducible and sensitive EIM measurements can be made on the gastrocnemius muscle of the mouse hind limb and that these are sensitive to disease alterations. A dedicated array would help speed data acquisition and provide additional sensitivity to disease-induced alterations. A flexible electrode array was developed with electrode sizes of 1mm × 1mm by Parlex, Inc. Tetrapolar electrode sets were arranged both parallel to (longitudinal) and orthogonally to (transverse) the major muscle fiber direction of the gastrocnemius muscle. Measurements were made with a dedicated EIM system. A total of 11 healthy animals and 7 animals with spinal muscular atrophy (a form of motor neuron disease) were evaluated after the fur was completely removed with a depilatory agent from the hind limb. Standard electrophysiologic testing (compound motor action potential amplitude and motor unit number estimation) was also performed. The flexible electrode array demonstrated high repeatability in both the longitudinal and transverse directions in the healthy and diseased animals (with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.94 and 0.89, respectively, for phase angle measured transversely). In addition, differences between healthy and diseased animals were identifiable. For example, the 50 kHz transverse phase angle was higher in the healthy as compared to the SMA animals (16.8° ± 0.5 vs. 14.3° ± 0.7, respectively) at 21 weeks of age (p = 0.01). Differences in anisotropy were also identifiable. Correlations to several standard neurophysiologic parameters also appeared promising. This novel flexible tetrapolar electrode array can be used on the mouse hind limb and provides multidirectional data that can be used to assess muscle health. This technique has the potential of finding widespread use in the evaluation of drug therapies in neuromuscular animal disease models.

Maxwell-Wagner modeling of electrical impedance measurements of tetradecane-electrolyte systems yielded three interfacial layers between the tetradecane layer and the bulk electrolytes of concentration ranging from 1–300 mM KCl whereas the gold-electrolyte system yielded only one layer. The conductivity and thickness for the surface layer were orders of magnitude different from that expected for the Gouy-Chapman layer and did not reflect dependencies of the Debye length on concentration. Conductivity values for the three layers were less than those of the bulk electrolyte but exhibited a dependency on concentration similar to that expected for the bulk. Thickness values for the layers indicate an interface extending ∼10⁶ Å into the bulk electrolyte, which contrasts with the gold-electrolyte interface that extended only 20–30 Å into the bulk. Maxwell-Wagner characterizations of both interfaces were consistent with spatial distributions of ionic partitioning arising from the Born energy as determined by the dielectric properties of the substrates and electrolyte. The distributions for the membranous and silicon interfaces were similar but the antitheses of that for the gold interface.

The problem of electrical impedance between the skin and the electrode is an on-going challenge in bio-electronics. This is particularly true in the case of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), which uses a large number of skin-contact electrodes and is very sensitive to noise. In the present article, contact impedance is measured and compared for a range of electrodes placed on the thorax of an ovine model. The study has been approved by the Westmead Hospital Animal Ethics Committee. The electrode models that were employed in the research are Ag/AgCl electrodes (E1), commonly used for ECG and EIT measurements in both humans and animal models, stainless steel crocodile clips (E2), typically used on animal models, and novel multi-point dry electrodes in two modifications: bronze plated (E3) and nickel plated (E4). Further, since the contact impedance is mostly attributed to the acellular outer layer of the skin, in our experiment, we attempted to study the effect of this layer by comparing the results when the skin is intact and when electrodes are introduced underneath the skin through small cuts. This boundary effect was assessed by comparison of measurements obtained during E2 skin surface contact, and sub-cutaneous contact (E5). Twelve gauge intradermal needles were also tested as an electrode (E6). The full impedance spectrum, from 500 Hz to 300 kHz, was recorded, analysed and compared. As expected, the contact impedance in the more invasive cases, i.e the electrodes under the skin, is significantly lower than in the non-invasive cases. At the frequency of 50 kHz which is commonly used in lung EIT acquisition, electrodes E3, E4 and E6 demonstrated contact impedance of less than 200 Ω, compared to more than 400 Ω measured for electrodes E1, E2 and E5. In conclusion, the novel multipoint electrodes proved to be best suited for EIT purposes, because they are non-invasive and have lower contact impedance than Ag/AgCl and crocodile clips, in both invasive and non-invasive cases. This further prompted us to design a flexible electrode belt using the novel multi-point electrodes for lung EIT on animal models.

Given the advances in the technology known as smart textiles, the use of textile electrodes is more and more common. However this kind of electrodes presents some differences regarding the standard ones as the Ag-AgCl electrodes. Therefore to characterize them as best as possible is required. In order to make the characterization reproducible and repetitive, a skin dummy made of agar-agar and a standardized measurement set-up is used in this article. Thus, some dependencies in the skin-electrode interface are described. These dependencies are related to the surface of the textile electrode, the conductive material and the applied pressure. Furthermore, the dependencies on clothing in the skin-textile electrode interface are also analyzed. Thus, based on some parameters such as textile material, width and number of layers, the behavior of the interface made up by the skin, the textile electrode and clothing is depicted.

Electrodes for intraoperative monitoring should be reliable and should not disturb the surgeon. Since any wiring could complicate the handling of other medical instruments, new developments of autonomic, wireless electrodes are preferred. This new generation of electrodes will not only stimulate the nerve, but will monitor the action potentials as well. A failure to read nerve potentials may be indicative not just of damaged nerves, but may also result from bad electrode-nerve contact. To resolve this, we have developed electrodes which are equipped with impedance measurement features, facilitating simple connectivity checks. Due to energy constraints, the system works in the time domain using a rectangular voltage wave excitation. The voltage at the electrode is sampled and transmitted via RF link to the host computer. The frequency range covered by the excitation and sampling is between 100 Hz and 50 kHz, which is sufficient not only for detecting contact failure, but also for detecting thick layers of connective tissue between the electrode and the nerve fibre. In either instance, the surgeon can be warned of a bad electrode placement.

The development of telemedicine requires finding solutions of reusable electrodes for use in patients' homes. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relevance of reusable elastomer electrodes for measuring body composition. We measured a population of healthy Caucasian (n = 17). A measurement was made with a reference device, the Xitron®, associated with AgCl Gel electrodes (Gel) and another measurement with a multifrequency impedancemeter Z-Metrix® associated with reusable elastomer electrodes (Elast). We obtained a low variability with an average error of repeatability of 0.39% for Re and 0.32% for Rinf. There is a non significantly difference (P T-test > 0.1) about 200 ml between extracellular water Ve measured with Gel and Elast in supine and in standing position. For total body water Vt, we note a non significantly difference (P T-test > 0.1) about 100 ml and 2.2 1 respectively in supine and standing position. The results give low dispersion, with R² superior to 0.90, with a 1.5% maximal error between Gel and Elast on Ve in standing position. It looks possible, taking a few precautions, using elastomer electrodes for assessing body composition.

With the goal of finding novel biocompatible materials suitable to replace silver in the manufacturing of textile electrodes for medical applications of electrical bioimpedance spectroscopy, three different polymeric materials have been investigated. Films have been prepared from different polymeric materials and custom bracelets have been confectioned with them. Tetrapolar total right side electrical bioimpedance spectroscopy (EBIS) measurements have been performed with polymer and with standard gel electrodes. The performance of the polymer films was compared against the performance of the gel electrodes. The results indicated that only the polypropylene 1380 could produce EBIS measurements but remarkably tainted with high frequency artefacts. The influence of the electrode mismatch, stray capacitances and large electrode polarization impedance are unclear and they need to be clarified with further studies. If sensorized garments could be made with such biocompatible polymeric materials the burden of considering textrodes class III devices could be avoided.

The non-invasive measurement of biological signals is prone to failure when the proband is in motion. In clinical practice disposable wet adhesive Ag/AgCl electrodes are used for ECG measurements to minimize failure caused by motion. For sportive action a chest strap with conductive rubber electrodes is widespread for continuous monitoring of the heart rate. Complaints about poor comfort and friction at the skin caused by the chest strap leaded to new developments with textile electrodes. The dynamic properties of electrodes and the coupling to the skin are important to optimize signal quality. We compare new textile with standard ECG electrodes and tested their suitability to the heart-rate measurement with impedance plethysmography under motion conditions.

A wideband bioimpedance measurement method is proposed, which can enhance the interpretation of measurement results due to the improved resolution of monitoring. On the other hand, the corresponding measurement system uses a binary chirp waveform for excitation signal, which simplifies the signal processing hardware and does not require sophisticated software. It is shown that the binary chirp excitation has some essential advantages compared to its counterpart – the maximum length sequence (MLS) excitation.

The multisine excitation is widely used in impedance measurements to retain the advantages of the sine wave, while reducing the measurement time. Adding up sine waves increases the amplitude of the excitation signal, but, for the linearity assumption to be valid, the overall amplitude of the signal needs to be kept low. Thus, the crest factor (CF) of the excitation signal must be minimized. A novel empirical method for minimization of the CF is presented in this paper. As in case of other known methods, the computed CF may be guaranteed to be only a local minimum. However, a systematic variation of initial parameters, which is possible due to the sparing algorithm, ensures the CF value, very close or equal to the global minimum. A brief analysis of the calculation errors and comparison with the results from other sources is provided. In the DSP applications, initial phases of the waveforms must match the grid of sample points if separate signal sources are used to generate the components. An equation for calculation of the indexes of the sample points corresponding to the optimal initial phases is provided, and the time discreteness caused relative error of CF is illustrated.

Classical method for measurement of the electrical bio-impedance involves excitation with sinusoidal waveform. Sinusoidal excitation at fixed frequency points enables wide variety of signal processing options, most general of them being Fourier transform. Multiplication with two quadrature waveforms at desired frequency could be easily accomplished both in analogue and in digital domains, even simplest quadrature square waves can be considered, which reduces signal processing task in analogue domain to synchronous switching followed by low pass filter, and in digital domain requires only additions. So called spectrally sparse excitation sequences (SSS), which have been recently introduced into bio-impedance measurement domain, are very reasonable choice when simultaneous multifrequency excitation is required. They have many good properties, such as ease of generation and good crest factor compared to similar multisinusoids. Typically, the usage of discrete or fast Fourier transform in signal processing step is considered so far. Usage of simplified methods nevertheless would reduce computational burden, and enable simpler, less costly and less energy hungry signal processing platforms. Accuracy of the measurement with SSS excitation when using different waveforms for quadrature demodulation will be compared in order to evaluate the feasibility of the simplified signal processing. Sigma delta modulated sinusoid (binary signal) is considered to be a good alternative for a synchronous demodulation.

The paper gives a short introduction into some system-theoretic aspects and features of dielectric measurements by periodic wideband signals. Based on these considerations, a related measurement concept will be presented which is well suited for both compact device implementation and monolithic integration. Some implementation examples are shown and first measurement results are presented.

Using a microfluidic system based on PTFE tubes, experimental results of contactless and label-free characterization techniques of yeast cell cultivation are presented. The PTFE tube has an inner diameter of 0.5 mm resulting in a sample volume of 2 μ1 for 1 cm sample length. Two approaches (at frequencies around 7 GHz and 240 GHz) are presented and compared in terms of sensitivity and applicability. These frequency bands are particularly interesting to gain information on the permittivity of yeast cells in Glucose solution. Measurements from 240 GHz to 300 GHz were conducted with a continuous wave spectrometer from Toptica. At 7 GHz band, measurements have been performed using a rat-race based characterizing system realized on a printed circuit board. The conducted experiments demonstrate that by selecting the phase as characterization parameter, the presented contactless and label-free techniques are suitable for cell cultivation monitoring in a PTFE pipe based microfluidic system.

There is a widespread need for highly-sensitive robust sensors that operate without direct contact to the fluid for analysis of fluids in bioprocess technology. Measuring the variation of dielectric properties (conductivity and permittivity) in the microwave frequency band can be used as an approach to investigate biological and chemical matter and processes such as, cell growth, cell metabolism and the concentration of large aqueous based molecules. In comparison to measurement at lower frequencies, DC conductivity (σ) effects on material properties (permittivity ε) can be neglected with increasing of the frequency. This presentation describes a high frequency sensor, which combines detection in macro- or microfluidic networks with quick and precise analysis. It is composed of a fluidic channel placed contactless between a micro-strip line waveguide combined with resonant properties.

A practical application of a bioimpedance technique for a detection of a bathing person is presented in the paper. It addresses the possibility of supervising people in the bathtub without voiding of their intimacy. The measurement system installed in a fiber-glass or a plastic bathtub is able to detect a presence of the bathing person, to estimate its activity and thus to detect potentially dangerous events. In the paper a principle of measurement, working prototype and measurements are presented. The proposed method can be useful for supporting and supervising bathing of elders, partially disabled or people with some health state risk during the bath and living alone.

In haemodialysis treatment the clearance and volume control by the kidneys of a patient are partially replaced by intermittent haemodialysis. Because this artificial process is performed on a limited time scale, unphysiological imbalances in the fluid compartments of the body occur, that can lead to intradialytic hypotensions (IDH). An IDH endangers the efficacy of the haemodialysis session and is associated with dismal clinical endpoints, including mortality. A diagnostic method that predicts the occurrence of these drops in blood pressure could facilitate timely measures for the prevention of IDH. The present study investigates whether the Initial Systolic Time Interval (ISTI) can provide such a diagnostic method. The ISTI is defined as the time difference between the R-peak in the electrocardiogram (ECG) and the C-wave in the impedance cardiogram (ICG) and is considered to be a non-invasive assessment of the time delay between the electrical and mechanical activity of the heart. This time delay has previously been found to depend on autonomic nervous function as well as preload of the heart. Therefore, it can be expected that ISTI may predict an imminent IDH caused by a low circulating blood volume. This ongoing observational clinical study investigates the relationship between changes in ISTI and subsequent drops in blood pressure during haemodialysis. A registration of a complicated dialysis showed a significant correlation between a drop in blood pressure, a decrease in relative blood volume and a substantial increase in ISTI. An uncomplicated dialysis, in which also a considerable amount of fluid was removed, showed no correlations. Both, blood pressure and ISTI remained stable. In conclusion, the preliminary results of the present study show a substantial response of ISTI to haemodynamic instability, indicating an application in optimization and individualisation of the dialysis process.

Respiratory motion may cause significant image artefacts in positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging. This study introduces a new bioimpedance-based gating method for minimizing respiratory artefacts. The method was studied in 12 oncologic patients by evaluating the following three parameters: maximum metabolic activity of radiopharmaceutical accumulations, the size of these targets as well as their target-to-background ratio. The bioimpedance-gated images were compared with non-gated images and images that were gated with a reference method, chest wall motion monitoring by infrared camera. The bioimpedance method showed clear improvement as increased metabolic activity and decreased target volume compared to non-gated images and produced consistent results with the reference method. Thus, the method may have great potential in the future of respiratory gating in nuclear medicine imaging.

The paper describes results of comprehensive EIT diagnostics of mammary glands and cervix. The data were obtained from examinations of 170 patients by EIT system MEM (multi-frequency electrical impedance mammograph) and EIT system GIT (gynecological impedance tomograph). Mutual dependence is discussed.

The validity of absolute Electrical Impedance Tomography (a-EIT) for assessment of local lung volume has been investigated far less than the well evaluated ventilation monitoring by functional EIT (f-EIT). To achieve progress in a-EIT we investigated 10 healthy volunteers in an upright sitting position by using a-EIT at normal gravity (1 g), weightlessness (0 g) and approx. double gravity (1.8 g) during parabolic flight manoeuvres. Lung resistivity in three thoracic planes was determined by a-EIT using a multiple-plane synchronised Goe-MF II EIT system. Tomograms of resistivity at end-expiration in normal spontaneous breathing were reconstructed by a modified SIRT algorithm. Local lung resistivity was determined separately for both lungs. The respective resistivity values at 1 g and 1.8 g before and after weightlessness show an almost reversible behaviour along the sequence of gravity changes with a tendency to be lower after occurrence of weightlessness. The results reveal not only the expected varying resistivity of lung tissue in cranio-caudal direction but also a clear difference in these cranio-caudal stratifications of local lung volume between the left and right lung. The resolution and stability of absolute EIT seem to be valid and expressive for future investigations of unilateral lung volume under different physiological and pathological conditions.

Different methods were proposed to analyze the resulting images of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) measurements during ventilation. The aim of our study was to examine if the analysis methods based on back-projection deliver the same results when applied on images based on other reconstruction algorithms. Seven mechanically ventilated patients with ARDS were examined by EIT. The thorax contours were determined from the routine CT images. EIT raw data was reconstructed offline with (1) filtered back-projection with circular forward model (BP_C); (2) GREIT reconstruction method with circular forward model (GREIT_C) and (3) GREIT with individual thorax geometry (GREIT_T). Three parameters were calculated on the resulting images: linearity, global ventilation distribution and regional ventilation distribution. The results of linearity test are 5.03±2.45, 4.66±2.25 and 5.32±2.30 for BP_C, GREIT_C and GREIT_T, respectively (median ±interquartile range). The differences among the three methods are not significant (p = 0.93, Kruskal-Wallis test). The proportions of ventilation in the right lung are 0.58±0.17, 0.59±0.20 and 0.59±0.25 for BP_C, GREIT_C and GREIT_T, respectively (p = 0.98). The differences of the GI index based on different reconstruction methods (0.53±0.16, 0.51±0.25 and 0.54±0.16 for BP_C, GREIT_C and GREIT_T, respectively) are also not significant (p = 0.93). We conclude that the parameters developed for images generated with GREIT_T are comparable with filtered back-projection and GREIT_C.

Electrical bioimpedance is an effective measuring tool to provide quick, non-invasive, real-time results which will be applied to the detection of internal haemorrhaging. Experiments were performed on female Fancy Rats weighing 333±44g, and 10mL of porcine blood was injected abdominally over 3 minutes. Data was collected using an 8×8 needle electrode array at 5 kHz, and 95 kHz and sent to the BioParHom Z-Flow. A strong correlation was found between the electrode paths crossing directly through the blood injection site, showing a decrease of about −0.17±0.1Ω/mL for the 5 kHz frequency. This correlation allows us to quickly detect internal haemorrhaging and also localize it with the current path set-up in the electrode array.

The ability of cerebral vasculature to regulate cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the face of changes in arterial blood pressure (SAP) or intracranial pressure (ICP) is an important guard against secondary ischemia in acute brain injuries, and official guidelines recommend that therapeutic decisions be guided by continuous monitoring of CBF autoregulation (AR). The common method for CBF AR monitoring, which rests on real-time derivation of the correlation coefficient (PRx) between slow oscillations in SAP and ICP is, however, rarely used in clinical practice because it requires invasive ICP measurements. This study investigated whether the correlation coefficient between SAP and the pulsatile component of the non-invasive transcranial bioimpedance signal (rheoencephalography, REG) could be used to assess the state and lower limit of CBF AR. The results from pigs and rhesus macaques affirm the utility of REG; however, additional animal and clinical studies are warranted to assess selectivity of automatic REG-based evaluation of CBF AR.

Wound healing is a complex process which can be impeded by the presence of accumulated cell fluid or oedema. A simple and convenient method for the assessment of wound oedema would aid improvement in patient care. In this proof of concept study we investigated whether bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy has the potential to provide such a tool. A number of important observations were made. Firstly, the method was highly reproducible and data can be obtained from electrodes located at different positions around the region of interest; important given the highly variable topography of surface wounds, e.g. burns. Secondly, the method was highly sensitive with the potential to detect changes of as little as 20 μl in extracellular fluid. Thirdly the relative changes in R0, R∞ and Ri following sub-cutaneous injections of saline were consistent with redistribution of water from the extracellular to intracellular space and /or removal from the local area as may occur during wound healing.

Sarcopenia is a progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass (SM) and function which can also be found in obese adults. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of sarcopenia in 1 245 obese women (18 – 67 years, weight 114.7±24.5 kg; BMI 44.1±9.2; fat mass 49.0±6.2%) from Southern Italy. Body composition was evaluated by bioimpedance analysis (BIA) and SM calculated by using Janssen's equation; therefore the sex-specific cut-off points of percentage skeletal muscle index were used. The whole population was divided in two age groups: A (18-40 years; n. 808; weight 115.4±23.5 kg; BMI 43.8±8.8 kg/m²) and B (41-67 years; n. 438; weight 113.4±26.3 kg; BMI 44.8±9.9 kg/m²). In all the sample there was 2.7% moderate and 0.6% severe sarcopenia; in group A, 1.9% moderate and 0.6% severe sarcopenia whilst in group B 4.3% moderate and 0.7% severe sarcopenia. The results of our study suggest that, based on a screening examination by BIA, moderate/severe sarcopenia can be detected in an unselected middle-aged obese population. Further studies are required to clarify the diagnosis with functional tests.

Postoperative neurological deficits are one of the risks associated with cardio vascular surgery, necessitating development of new techniques for cerebral monitoring. In this study an experimental observation regarding the dynamics of transcephalic Electrical Bioimpedance (EBI) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with and without extracorporeal circulation (ECC) was conducted to investigate the potential use of electrical Bioimpedance for cerebral monitoring in cardio vascular surgery. Tetrapolar transcephalic EBI measurements at single frequency of 50 kHz were recorded prior to and during cardio vascular surgery. The obtained results show that the transcephalic impedance decreases in both groups of patients as operation starts, however slight differences in these two groups were also observed with the cerebral impedance reduction in patients having no ECC being less common and not as pronounced as in the ECC group. Changes in the cerebral impedance were in agreement with changes of haematocrit and temperature. The origin of EBI changes is still unexplained however these results encourage us to continue investigating the application of electrical bioimpedance cerebral monitoring clinically.

The validity of estimating the PEP from a fixed value for the Q-wave onset to the R-wave peak (QR) interval and from the R-wave peak to the dZ/dt-min peak (ISTI) interval is evaluated. Ninety-one subjects participated in a laboratory experiment in which a variety of physical and mental stressors were presented and 31 further subjects participated in a sequence of structured ambulatory activities in which large variation in posture and physical activity was induced. PEP, QR interval, and ISTI were scored. Across the diverse laboratory and ambulatory conditions the QR interval could be approximated by a fixed interval of 40 ms but 95% confidence intervals were large (25 to 54 ms). Multilevel analysis showed that 79% to 81% of the within and between-subject variation in the RB interval could be predicted by the ISTI. However, the optimal intercept and slope values varied significantly across subjects and study setting. Bland-Altman plots revealed a large discrepancy between the estimated PEP and the actual PEP based on the Q-wave onset and B-point. It is concluded that the estimated PEP can be a useful tool but cannot replace the actual PEP to index cardiac sympathetic control.

Nowadays, the road safety is one of the most important priorities in the automotive industry. Many times, this safety is jeopardized because of driving under inappropriate states, e.g. drowsiness, drugs and/or alcohol. Therefore several systems for monitoring the behavior of subjects during driving are researched. In this paper, a device based on a contactless electrical bioimpedance system is shown. Using the four-wire technique, this system is capable of obtaining the heart rate and the ventilation of the driver through multiple textile electrodes. These textile electrodes are placed on the car seat and the steering wheel. Moreover, it is also reported several measurements done in a controlled environment, i.e. a test room where there are no artifacts due to the car vibrations or the road state. In the mentioned measurements, the system response can be observed depending on several parameters such as the placement of the electrodes or the number of clothing layers worn by the driver.

The paper presents a method for the Central Aortic Pressure (CAP) waveform estimation from the measured radial Electrical Bio-Impedance (EBI). The method proposed here is a non-invasive and health-safe approach to estimate the cardiovascular system parameters, such as the Augmentation Index (AI). Reconstruction of the CAP curve from the EBI data is provided by spectral domain transfer functions (TF), found on the bases of data analysis. Clinical experiments were carried out on 30 patients in the Center of Cardiology of East-Tallinn Central Hospital during coronary angiography on patients in age of 43 to 80 years. The quality and reliability of the method was tested by comparing the evaluated augmentation indices obtained from the invasively measured CAP data and from the reconstructed curve. The correlation coefficient r = 0.89 was calculated in the range of AI_CAP values from 5 to 28. Comparing to the traditional tonometry based method, the developed one is more convenient to use and it allows long-term monitoring of the AI, what is not possible with tonometry probes.

The paper presents a novel approach to assessment of ventricular dyssynchrony basing on multichannel electrical impedance measurements. Using a proper placement of electrodes, the sensitivity approach allows estimating time difference between chambers contraction from over determined nonlinear system of equations. The theoretical considerations which include Finite Element Method simulations were verified using measurements on healthy 28 year's old woman. The nonlinear least squares method was applied to obtain a time difference between heart chambers contraction. The obtained value was in a good agreement with theoretical values found in literature.

The methods and device for estimation of cardiac output and measurement of pulse wave velocity simultaneously is presented here. The beat-to-beat cardiac output as well as pulse wave velocity measurement is based on application of electrical impedance method on the thorax and calf. The results are demonstrated in a study of 24 subjects. The dependence of pulse wave velocity and cardiac output on heart rate during rest in patients with an implanted pacemaker was evaluated. The heart rate was changed by pacemaker programming while neither exercise nor drugs were applied. The most important result is that the pulse wave velocity, cardiac output and blood pressure do not depend significantly on heart rate, while the stroke volume is reciprocal proportionally to the heart rate.

The cardiac resynchronization therapy is an effective treatment for systolic failure patients. Independent electrical stimulation of left and right ventricle corrects mechanical ventricular dyssynchrony. About 30–40% treated patients do not respond to therapy. In order to improve clinical outcome authors propose the two channels impedance cardiography for assessment of ventricular dyssynchrony. The proposed method is intended for validation of patients diagnosis and optimization of pacemaker settings for cardiac resynchronization therapy. The preliminary study has showed that bichannel impedance cardiography is a promising tool for assessment of ventricular dyssynchrony.

An influence of an electrode-array configuration on an impedance signal composition for a fixed spatial distribution of its sources is examined in the paper. The Finite Element Method and Geselowitz relationship were used for examining three different electrode-arrays. A sensitivity approach was used to evaluate each configuration assuming that localization of the signal source is known. A conductivity change, thus the source of the impedance signal was considered as two hemispheres covered by a shell.

The purpose of this research was to determine the diagnostic criteria for differentiating volumetric lesions in the mammary gland in electrical impedance mammography. The research was carried out utilizing the electrical impedance computer mammograph ≪MEIK v.5.6≫®, which enables to acquire images of 3-D conductivity distribution layers within mamma's tissues up to 5 cm depth. The weighted reciprocal projection method was employed to reconstruct the 3-D electric conductivity distribution of the examined organ. The results of 3,710 electrical impedance examinations were analyzed. The analysis of a volumetric lesion included assessment of its shape, contour, internal electrical structure and changes of the surrounding tissues. Moreover, mammary gland status was evaluated with the help of comparative and age-related electrical conductivity curves. The diagnostic chart is provided. Each criterion is measured in points. Using the numerical score for evaluation of mass and non-volumetric lesions within the mammary gland in electrical impedance mammography allowed comparing this information to BI-RADS categories developed by American College of Radiology experts. The article is illustrated with electrical impedance mammograms and tables.

Long-standing lymphoedema is characterised by tissues changes which are currently not detectable using bioimpedance spectroscopy. It has been suggested that a combination of bipolar and tetrapolar measurements may be used to detect these tissues changes for a single site in the transverse direction. This was technique was trialled in a group of control participants with no history of lymphoedema or recent upper limb trauma. Repeated spot measurements were done without removal of electrodes to determine biological variability as well as with removal of electrodes to determine technical reproducibility. The inter-limb spot ratio of the controls was then compared to that of a number of women previously diagnosed with secondary lymphoedema in the forearm. Biological variability was not found to greatly influence repeated measures but only moderate technical reliability was found despite excellent co-efficient of variation for the majority of the measurements. A difference was seen between those with more severe swelling and the controls. This novel technique shows promise in detecting tissue changes associated with long-standing lymphoedema.

We have investigated the distribution of peripheral blood volumes in different regions of the body in response to the tilt-test in endurance trained athletes after aerobic exercise. Distribution of peripheral blood volumes (ml/beat) simultaneously in six regions of the body (two legs, two hands, abdomen, neck and ECG) was assessed in response to the tilt-test using the impedance method (the impedance change rate (dZ/dT). Before and after exercise session cardiac stroke (CSV) and blood volumes in legs, arms and neck were higher in athletes both in lying and standing positions. Before exercise the increase of heart rate and the decrease of a neck blood volume in response to tilting was lower (p <0.05) but the decrease of leg blood volumes was higher (p<0.001) in athletes. The reactions in arms and abdomen blood volumes were similar. Also, the neck blood volumes as percentage of CSV (%/CSV) did not change in the control but increased in athletes (p <0.05) in response to the tilt test. After (10 min recovery) the aerobic bicycle exercise (mean HR = 156±8 beat/min, duration 30 min) blood volumes in neck and arms in response to the tilting were reduced equally, but abdomen (p<0.05) and leg blood volumes (p <0.001) were lowered more significantly in athletes. The neck blood flow (%/CSV) did not change in athletes but decreased in control (p<0.01), which was offset by higher tachycardia in response to tilt-test in controls after exercise. The data demonstrate greater orthostatic tolerance in athletes both before and after exercise during fatigue which is due to effective distribution of blood flows aimed at maintaining cerebral blood flow.

Electrical properties of normal and neoplastic cervical tissues in a heterogeneous group of 56 Colombian women were studied by electrical impedance spectroscopy and a model based on the Generalized Effective-Medium Theory of Induced Polarization (GEMTIP). Differences between the electrical bioimpedance spectra were correlated with cellular and tissue parameters. The analysis performed by the proposed model suggest that the number of different types of cellular layers that form the biological tissue, the intracellular and extracellular conductivity could be used to explain the differences between electrical bioimpedance spectra in normal and neoplastic tissues.

Wound infection status is a relevant diagnostic parameter to enhance wound treatment towards better healing rate. Impedance evaluation is a powerful tool to measure the inflammatory response like the released DNA of neutrophils. In our research we investigated the dielectric behaviour of neutrophils settled on electrodes in vitro. The cells have been stimulated to react in the same way as in a wound infection. The result is a significant impedance deviation of about 50% with comparable amount of cells like in an infected wound. Microscopic fluorescence verifications acknowledge these findings.

Experimental procedure is a decisive part in in-vitro bioimpedance measurement in order to get reproducible measurements. An electrode configuration is proposed to avoid several disadvantages produced by needle electrodes and circular non-penetrating electrode. The proposed electrode geometry reduces the influence of anisotropy and allows simultaneously a good probe contacting. We propose an experimental method to avoid the appearance of bacteria and to reduce water loss in meat during experiment post-mortem. The results show that electrode configuration with the developed experimental method have ensured reproducible measurements during a long period of 14 days post-mortem.

By means of computer simulation and experiment, we investigated the feasibility of simultaneously measuring the transfer impedance changes in the right apex, left apex, right base and left base of the lungs using the multi-electrode impedance method. To obtain the transfer impedance in each region, while suppressing the effects of other regions, changing the amplitude and polarity of the applied current must localize the high sensitivity areas in the interest region. Twelve current and eight voltage electrodes were equidistantly arranged on the anterior and posterior chest walls. The amplitudes and polarities of the currents that were simultaneously applied to the current electrodes, and which provided the appropriate sensitivity distribution, were theoretically obtained. The effects of the localized sensitivity distribution were verified by comparing the simulation results of the investigated method with the results of the conventional four-electrode method. From the results of the computer simulation, we developed a multi-electrode impedance pneumography and applied it to healthy adult volunteers who were both in sitting position and in left decubitus. We found that the measurement results were physiologically reasonable.

A bioimpedance device (BIA) for evaluation of sarcopenia – age related muscle mass loss – is designed, developed and evaluated. The requirements were based on lightweight design, flexible and user enabled incorporation of measurement protocols and WiFi protocol for remote device control, full internet integration and fast development and usage of measurement protocols. The current design is based on usage of a microcontroller with integrated AD/DA converters. The prototype system was assembled and the operation and connectivity to different handheld devices and laptop computers was successfully tested. The designed BIA device can be accessed using TCP sockets and once the connection is established the data transfer runs successfully at the specified speed. The accuracy of currently developed prototype is about 5% for the impedance modulus and 5 deg. for the phase for the frequencies below 20 kHz with an unfiltered excitation signal and no additional amplifiers employed.

Sarcopenia is defined as a loss of muscle mass depending of ageing and affecting physical function (definition A). A new definition considers excluding mass reduction criterion (definition B). Obesity is pandemic and occurs at all ages. Sarcopenic obesity (SO) implies both processes. The purpose of this study was to compare the results obtained after applying these 2 definitions in 66 aged 22 ± 2.8 years overweight or obese young college women. Percentage body fat (%BF) and skeletal mass index (SMI) were estimated by BIA, muscle function by handgrip strength test (HGS) and physical performance by Harvard step test (HST). There were 9.1% and 90.9% overweight or obese subjects. Twenty nine subjects (43.9%) had decreased HGS and 22 (33.3%) had impaired physical performance. One obese subject (1.5%) met the criteria for sarcopenic obesity by definition A and 9 (13.6%) by definition B. Although a linear regression (α <0.05) showed a very weak association between these variables (r² = 0.094, 0.037 and 0.275 respectively) it was observed a tendency for HGS, HST and SMI deterioration when %BF increases. However, other confounding factors must be investigated. Probably as the population gets more obese, the problematic of SO will be found earlier in life.

Lymphoedema is a chronic debilitating condition that may occur in approximately 25% of women treated for breast cancer. As the condition progresses, accumulated lymph fluid becomes fibrotic with infiltration of adipose tissue. Bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy is the preferred method for early detection of lymphoedema based on the measurement of impedance of extracellular fluid. The present study assessed whether these impedance measurements could also be used to estimate the adipose tissue content of the arm based on a model previously used to predict whole body composition. Estimates of arm adipose tissue in a cohort of women with lymphoedema were found to be highly correlated (r > 0.82) with measurements of adipose tissue obtained using the reference method of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Paired t-tests confirmed that there was no significant difference between the adipose tissue volumes obtained by the two methods. These results support the view that the method shows promise for the estimation of arm adiposity in lymphoedema.

Here, we report first results of the large-scale ongoing bioelectrical impedance body composition study in Russians. By the end of 2012, 216 out of 800 Russian Health Centres submitted raw bioimpedance data on 844,221 adults and children aged 5–80 years, representing nearly 0.6% of the Russian population, who were accessed cross-sectionally using the same type of bioimpedance meter, ABC-01 Medas. Estimates of overweight, obesity, and normal weight obesity prevalence in the general population, as well as characteristics of diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the conventional WHO BMI-based criteria of obesity depending on age are obtained. The smoothed reference centile curves for percentage fat mass are constructed, and localized cut-offs for fatness and thinness are provided that can be used both at the individual and epidemiological levels.

Body composition is a useful means for athletes' body composition assessment, relying on reference population data. This study aims at comparing body composition multifrequency impedance data of athletes and healthy adult populations. Differences were found in tissular, hydration and metabolic indices. They were significant, in the expected direction, but quite weak and additional data from reference technologies would set if specific equations are needed. The current ones are nevertheless suitable for reliable follow-up studies.

Several studies have shown that the accuracy of BIA results depends of ethnicity, age, gender, hormonal and genetic variations and, so far, there are not specific equations for Colombian population. The purpose was to evaluate reported BIA equations to determine their usefulness in body composition assessment in young females from Colombia using hydrodensitometry as the reference method. A sample of 30 young females was evaluated. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined to minimize the variability of BIA. Height, weight, multi-frequency BIA, residual lung volume (RV) and underwater weight (UWW) were measured. Five BIA equations met the inclusion criteria of this study. Three equations overestimated and two equations underestimated body fat (BF). Paired Student t-test and Bland and Altman analysis (p<0.05) showed significant differences in four BIA equations. However, all standard error of estimate (SEE) to BF was greater than 2.7 kg. This study showed that the five selected BIA equations are not valid for estimation of body composition in young females from Colombia. It is recommended to develop BIA equations to improve BF fat assessment in our population.

A previous study showed that reported BIA equations for body composition are not suitable for Colombian population. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a preliminary BIA equation for body composition assessment in young females from Colombia, using hydrodensitometry as reference method. A sample of 30 young females was evaluated. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined to minimize the variability of BIA. Height, weight, BIA, residual lung volume (RV) and underwater weight (UWW) were measured. A preliminary BIA equation was developed (r² = 0.72, SEE = 2.48 kg) by stepwise multiple regression with fat-free mass (FFM) as dependent variable and weight, height and impedance measurements as independent variables. The quality of regression was evaluated and a cross-validation against 50% of sample confirmed that results obtained with the preliminary BIA equation is interchangeable with results obtained with hydrodensitometry (r² = 0.84, SEE = 2.62 kg). The preliminary BIA equation can be used for body composition assessment in young females from Colombia until a definitive equation is developed. The next step will be increasing the sample, including a second reference method, as deuterium oxide dilution (D₂O), and using multi-frequency BIA (MF-BIA). It would also be desirable to develop equations for males and other ethnic groups in Colombia.

The mechanical function and size of a muscle may be closely linked. Handgrip strength (HGS) has been used as a predictor of functional performing. Anthropometric measurements have been made to estimate arm muscle area (AMA) and physical muscle mass volume of upper limb (ULMMV). Electrical volume estimation is possible by segmental BIA measurements of fat free mass (SBIA-FFM), mainly muscle-mass. Relationship among these variables is not well established. We aimed to determine if physical and electrical muscle mass estimations relate to each other and to what extent HGS is to be related to its size measured by both methods in normal or overweight young males. Regression analysis was used to determine association between these variables. Subjects showed a decreased HGS (65.5%), FFM, (85.5%) and AMA (74.5%). It was found an acceptable association between SBIA-FFM and AMA (r² = 0.60) and poorer between physical and electrical volume (r² = 0.55). However, a paired Student t-test and Bland and Altman plot showed that physical and electrical models were not interchangeable (pt<0.0001). HGS showed a very weak association with anthropometric (r² = 0.07) and electrical (r² = 0.192) ULMMV showing that muscle mass quantity does not mean muscle strength. Other factors influencing HGS like physical training or nutrition require more research.

Coupling both thermography and bio-Impedance, some biophysical acupuncture mechanisms are statically studied on a small population of 18 subjects. Results show that a possible way of understanding acupuncture, in an electrical way, should be to consider ionic flux redistribution between vascular and extra cell compartments. This is a two steps mechanism. The first one is starting with needles insertion and the second one is lasting with more intensity after removing them from skin.

Electrical impedance myography (EIM) provides a non-invasive approach for quantifying the severity of neuromuscular disease. Here we determine how well EIM data correlates to functional and ultrasound (US) measures of disease in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and healthy subjects. Thirteen healthy boys, aged 2–12 years and 14 boys with DMD aged 4–12 years underwent both EIM and US measurements of deltoid, biceps, wrist flexors, quadriceps, tibialis anterior, and medial gastrocnemius. EIM measurements were performed with a custom-designed probe using a commercial multifrequency bioimpedance device. US luminosity data were quantified using a gray-scale analysis approach. Children also underwent the 6-minute walk test, timed tests and strength measurements. EIM and US data were combined across muscles. EIM 50 kHz phase was able to discriminate DMD children from healthy subjects with 98% accuracy. In the DMD patients, average EIM phase measurements also correlated well with standard functional measures. For example the 50 kHz phase correlated with the Northstar Ambulatory Assessment test (R = 0.83, p = 0.02). EIM 50 kHz phase and US correlated as well, with R = −0.79 (p < 0.001). These results show that EIM provides valuable objective measures Duchenne muscular dystrophy severity.

The extroversion or hyperextension of elbow joint cause disorders of elbow joint in throwing a baseball. A method, which is easy handling and to measure motion objectively, can be useful for evaluation of throwing motion. We investigated a possibility of motion discrimination of throwing a baseball using electrical impedance method. The parameters of frequency characteristics (Cole-Cole arc) of forearm electrical impedance were measured during four types of throwing a baseball. Multiple discriminant analysis was used and the independent variables were change ratios of 11 parameters of forearm electrical impedance. As results of 120 data with four types of throwing motion in three subjects, hitting ratio was very high and 95.8%. We can expect to discriminate throwing a baseball using multiple discriminant analysis of impedance parameters.

Earlier observations on possible co-variation between skin EIS and blood glucose prompted us to map and include other factors at play in the predictive model. Skin pH would be one such factor. A cohort of 20 diabetics was investigated, taking around 30 measurements spread over each of two different days 2–21 days apart. Each measurement comprises skin EIT in the frequency range 1kHz to 2.5MHz, skin pH, and immediately evaluated blood samples. There is a co-variation for some, but not all, test persons. The relationship gets stronger on the group level by adding pH-information, but is still poor or non-existent for some test persons. Non-invasive EIS measurements on skin is influenced by skin hydration, blood glucose, skin pH, body location, season, environmental factors, and variables not yet understood. Since impedance related parameters are used to estimate skin hydration, users of such devices should be aware that skin pH may influence as much as the water content of the stratum corneum.

The cornea is a transparent structure composed of three layers: the epithelium, the stroma and the endothelium. To maintain its ransparency the stroma remains in a constant state of dehydration. Consequently, any ion flow disorder through the covering layers can compromise the barrier function and, therefore the corneal homeostasis. Since ionic permeability has a fundamental impact on the passive electrical properties of living tissues, in this work it is proposed and demonstrated a diagnosis method based on tetrapolar impedance measurements performed by electrodes placed on the corneal surface. The contribution of each cornea layer to the total measured impedance has been analysed over a frequency range. Following the obtained guidelines, a flexible probe with integrated electrodes has been developed and manufactured using SU-8 photoresin. The feasibility of the proposed method has been evaluated in vivo by monitoring corneal epithelium wound healing. Obtained impedance measurements have been compared with measurements of permeability to sodium fluorescein from different excised corneas. Successful results demonstrate the feasibility of this novel flexible sensor and its capability to quantify corneal permeability in vivo in a noninvasive way.

Reconstruction in electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a nonlinear, ill-posed inverse problem. Based on point-shaped training and evaluation data, the "Graz consensus Reconstruction algorithm for EIT" (GREIT) constitutes a universal, homogenous method. While this is a very reasonable approach to the general problem, we ask the question if an optimized reconstruction method for a specific application of EIT, i.e. thoracic imaging, can be found. Instead of point-shaped training data we propose to use spatially extended training data consisting of eigenimages. To evaluate the quality of reconstruction of the proposed approach, figures of merit (FOMs) derived from the ones used in GREIT are developed. For the application of thoracic imaging, lung-shapes were segmented from a publicly available CT-database (www.dir-lab.com) and used to calculate the novel FOMs. With those, the general feasibility of using eigenimages is demonstrated and compared to the standard approach. In addition, it is shown that by using different sets of training data, the creation of an individually optimized linear method of reconstruction is possible.

In this work, a finite element model was created using MRI scans of the main author to analyze sources of the dynamic thoracic bioimpedance. This model can be used to identify limitations of impedance cardiography (ICG) in practice. Heart beat (8.3 ms temporal resolution) and aortic wave propagation (2.6 ms temporal resolution) were implemented. The static volume contains all major organs of the thorax in high spatial resolution. Simulations were successfully conducted and a high correlation (r = 0.9) between the simulated aortic ICG signal and a measured signal of the same subject was obtained.

We present an adaptive Kaczmarz method for solving the inverse problem in electrical impedance tomography and determining the conductivity distribution inside an object from electrical measurements made on the surface. To best characterize an unknown conductivity distribution and avoid inverting the Jacobian-related term J^TJ which could be expensive in terms of memory storage in large scale problems, we propose to solve the inverse problem by adaptively updating both the optimal current pattern with improved distinguishability and the conductivity estimate at each iteration. With a novel subset scheme, the memory-efficient reconstruction algorithm which appropriately combines the optimal current pattern generation and the Kaczmarz method can produce accurate and stable solutions adaptively compared to traditional Kaczmarz and Gauss-Newton type methods. Several reconstruction image metrics are used to quantitatively evaluate the performance of the simulation results.

In electrical impedance tomography (EIT), there is a monotony relation between the conductivity of an imaging subject and the EIT measurements. Such monotony relations can be used for inclusion detection methods. However, up to now, monotony-based methods were only known to reconstruct an upper or lower bound of inclusions.

In a recent preprint, the authors showed that, for continuous boundary data, monotony based methods are in fact capable of reconstructing the exact shape of inclusions. In this work, we discuss how to extend our results to the practically relevant complete electrode model setting and study the possibility of rigorous resolution guarantees.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has the promise to help improve care for patients undergoing ventilation therapy by providing real-time bed-side information on the distribution of ventilation in their lungs. To realise this potential, it is important for an EIT system to provide a reliable and meaningful signal at all times, or alert clinicians when this is not possible. Because the reconstructed images in EIT are sensitive to system instabilities (including electrode connection problems) and artifacts caused by e.g. movement or sweat, there is a need for EIT systems to continuously monitor, recognize and, if possible, correct for such errors. Motivated by this requirement, our paper describes a novel approach to quantitatively measure EIT data quality suitable for online and offline applications. We used a publicly available data set of ventilation data from two pediatric patients with lung disease to evaluate the data quality on clinical data. Results suggest that the developed data quality could be a useful tool for real-time assessment of the quality of EIT data and, hence, to indicate the reliability of any derived physiological information.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) image reconstruction is ill-posed, and the spatial resolution of reconstructed images is low due to the diffuse propagation of current and limited number of independent measurements. Generally, image reconstruction is formulated using a regularized scheme in which ℓ₂ norms are preferred for both the data misfit and image prior terms due to computational convenience which result in smooth solutions. However, recent work on a Primal Dual-Interior Point Method (PDIPM) framework showed its effectiveness in dealing with the minimization problem. ℓ₁ norms on data and regularization terms in EIT image reconstruction address both problems of reconstruction with sharp edges and dealing with measurement errors. We aim for a clinical and experimental evaluation of the PDIPM method by selecting scenarios (human lung and dog breathing) with known electrode errors, which require a rigorous regularization and cause the failure of reconstructions with ℓ₂ norm. Results demonstrate the applicability of PDIPM algorithms, especially ℓ₁ data and regularization norms for clinical applications of EIT showing that ℓ₁ solution is not only more robust to measurement errors in clinical setting, but also provides high contrast resolution on organ boundaries.

Recent studies in animal models suggest that the use of small volume boluses of NaCl as an impedance contrast agent can significantly improve pulmonary perfusion imaging by Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT). However, these studies used highly concentrated NaCl solution (20%) which may have adverse effects on the patients. In a pilot experiment, we address this problem by comparing a number of different Impedance Contrast Boluses (ICBs). Conductivity changes in the lungs of a sheep after the injection of four different ICBs were compared, including three NaCl-based ICBs and one glucose-based ICB. The following procedure was followed for each ICB. Firstly, ventilation was turned off to provide an apneic window of approximately 40s to image the conductivity changes due to the ICB. Each ICB was then injected through a pig-tail catheter directly into the right atrium. EIT images were acquired throughout the apnea to capture the conductivity change. For each ICB, the experiment was repeated three times. The three NaCl-based ICB exhibited similar behaviour in which following the injection of each of these ICBs, the conductivity of each lung predictably increased. The effect of the ICB of 5% glucose solution was inconclusive. A small decrease in conductivity in the left lung was observed in two out of three cases and none was discernible in the right lung.

The estimation of bladder volume by electrical impedance tomography is a promising technology to provide continuous volume estimates to patients who suffer from impaired bladder volume sensory. To find an optimized electrode arrangement for electrical impedance tomography of the human bladder, seven different electrode arrangements have been analysed using a finite element model. The arrangements under consideration can be assigned to three general groups: ring arrangements, linear arrangements and matrix arrangements. For each arrangement in these three groups, the condition of the Jacobian matrix and the global impedance for several bladder volumes has been calculated and compared using the EIDORS toolkit.

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) systems are used to image tissue bio-impedance. EIT provides a number of features making it attractive for use as a medical imaging device including the ability to image fast physiological processes (>60 Hz), to meet a range of clinical imaging needs through varying electrode geometries and configurations, to impart only non-ionizing radiation to a patient, and to map the significant electrical property contrasts present between numerous benign and pathological tissues. To leverage these potential advantages for medical imaging, we developed a modular 32 channel data acquisition (DAQ) system using National Instruments' PXI chassis, along with FPGA, ADC, Signal Generator and Timing and Synchronization modules. To achieve high frame rates, signal demodulation and spectral characteristics of higher order harmonics were computed using dedicated FFT-hardware built into the FPGA module. By offloading the computing onto FPGA, we were able to achieve a reduction in throughput required between the FPGA and PC by a factor of 32:1. A custom designed analog front end (AFE) was used to interface electrodes with our system. Our system is wideband, and capable of acquiring data for input signal frequencies ranging from 100 Hz to 12 MHz. The modular design of both the hardware and software will allow this system to be flexibly configured for the particular clinical application.

We report on a pilot study with healthy subjects who had an MR scan in addition to EIT data acquired with the Manchester fEITER system. The MR images are used to inform the external shape of a 3D EIT reconstruction model of the thorax, and small changes in the boundary that occur during respiration are addressed by incorporating the sensitivity with respect to boundary shape into a robust reconstruction algorithm. A quantitative comparison of the image quality for different EIT reconstructions is achieved through calculation of their mutual information with a segmented MR image. A shape corrected reconstruction algorithm reduces boundary artefacts relative to a standard reconstruction, and has a greater mutual information of approximately 4% with the segmented MR image.

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) reconstructs the conductivity distribution within a medium from electrical stimulation and measurements at the medium surface. Level set based reconstruction method (LSRM) has gained attention during the last decade as an effective solution to address the need of reconstructing structures with limited amount of available data. The classical LSRM is based on the quadratic formulations (L2 norms); however, the L2 norms are not robust to outliers and spatial noise. The L1 norm is a more solid alternative to produce high robustness against outliers and noise. The L1 norm is minimized by Primal dual-interior point method (PDIPM). In this paper, we derive a novel level set (LS) based regularization framework for using the L1 norm independently on the data and the regularization term of an inverse problem. The proposed LS based regularization method, called LS based PDIPM (LS-PDIPM), applies the PDIPM to minimize the L1 norms. We use the LS-PDIPM to reconstruct 2D images from EIT simulated data. The proposed LS-PDIPM with the L1 norms provides sharper and less noisy images, when comparing with the L2 norm based regularization method.

The device presented in this paper is a sensor for monitoring pulse by measuring the bioimpedance of the thumb in an unobtrusive way. The sensor is based on magnetic induction measurement, a non-contact technique for measuring impedance changes of objects [1]. The sensor head of the presented system has the form of a ring and is worn on the finger. The developed technique renders the possibility of easy and unnoticed pulse recording during every day activities without the need for, e.g. electrodes, a pulse belt around the chest, or a pulse photoplethysmographic finger or ear clip.

Magnetic induction (MI) measurement technique could provide an unobtrusive contactless method for continuous monitoring of vital signs such as breathing and cardiac activity in bed. In this paper, we present a magnetic induction system to evaluate the feasibility of monitoring heart and lung activity and the preliminary measurement results. The excitation and detection coils are designed to be implemented in a single printed circuit board, allowing the use of the system in a bed with coils under the mattress. The electronic system is based on a 16 bit arbitrary waveform generator (PXI-5422, National instrument) operating at a sample rate of 200 MS/s for the excitation signal and the detected amplified signal is then, sampled at 100 MS/s by a 14 bit digitizer (PXI-5122, National Instruments). The preliminary results at 10 MHz show the ability of the system to detect solutions with different conductivities. However the capacitive effect is in the same order of magnitude as the inductive effect due to eddy currents. Safety of the system has been evaluated to be in accordance with the standards of human exposure to the magnetic fields.

Electroporation is a phenomenon caused by externally applied electric field to cells that results in an increase of cell membrane permeability to various molecules. Accurate coverage of the tissue with a sufficiently large electric field presents one of the most important conditions for successful membrane permeabilization. Applications based on electroporation would greatly benefit with a method for monitoring the electric field, especially if it could be done in situ. As the membrane electroporation is a consequence of an induced transmembrane potential, which is directly proportional to the local electric field, we have been investigating current density imaging and magnetic resonance electrical impedance tomography techniques to determine the electric field distribution during electroporation. In this paper, we present comparison of current density and electric field distribution in an agar phantom and in a liver tissue exposed to electroporation pulses. As expected, a region of increased electrical conductivity was observed in the liver tissue exposed to sufficiently high electric field but not in agar phantom.

In spite of recent advancement of novel optical and electrical techniques, availability of non-invasive, label-free methods to assess membrane potential of living cells is still an open issue. The theory linking membrane potential to the low frequency α dispersion exhibited by suspensions of spherical shelled particles (presenting a net charge distribution on the inner side of the shell) has been pioneered in our previous studies with emphasis on the permittivity spectra. We now report on both theoretical and experimental aspects showing that whereas α dispersion is related to a rather large variation exhibited by the permittivity spectrum the decrement presented by impedance magnitude spectrum is either extremely small, or occurs (for large cells) at very low frequencies (∼mHz) explaining the lack of experimental bioimpedance data on the matter. Based on the microscopic model we indicate that an appropriate design of the experiment may enable access to membrane potential as well as to other relevant parameters when investigating living cells and charged lipid vesicles. We discuss the effect on the low frequency of permittivity and impedance spectra of: I. Parameters pertaining to cell membrane i.e. (i) membrane potential, (ii) size of the cells/vesicles, (iii) conductivity; II. Conductivity of the outer medium. A novel measuring set-up has recently been developed within the International Centre of Biodynamics allowing for sensitive low frequency (∼10mHz) four point (bio)impedance assays. Its capability to test theoretical predictions is reported as well. The far reaching implications of this study applicability for life sciences (noninvasive access to the dynamics of relevant cell parameters) as well as for biosensing applications, e.g. assess the cytotoxicity of a wide range of stimuli, will be outlined.

Weakly electric fish employ active electrolocation for navigation and object detection. They emit an electric signal with their electric organ in the tail and sense the electric field with electroreceptors that are distributed over their skin. We adopted this principle to design a bubble detector that can detect gas bubbles in a fluid or, in principle, objects with different electric conductivity than the surrounding fluid. The evaluation of the influence of electrode diameter on detecting a given bubble size showed that the signal increases with electrode diameter. Therefore it appears that this detector will be more appropriate for large sized applications such as bubble columns than small sized applications such as bubble detectors in dialysis.

Analytical solutions of the Nernst-Planck, Poisson and continuity equations for a membrane undergoing reverse osmosis in a cross-flow system reveal that the flow of alternating ionic charge induced in the membrane during impedance measurements is actively assisted by the flow of water. The actively driven current manifested "inductive" responses in impedance measurements of a Filmtec BW30 reverse osmosis membrane mounted in an Inphaze flat-bed cross-flow module after 16 hours of filtering a mineral salt solution seeded with CaCl₂ and NaHCO₃ at pressure of 900 kPa. Fitted transfer functions resolved conduction and capacitive properties of four membrane layers, diffusion/concentration phenomenon and a pseudo "inductor" shunted by a conductor. A 10-fold decrease in the shunt conductance correlated with smaller increases in the conductance values for the filtrate and membranous layers, and the onset of fouling diagnosed by a rapid increase in flux decline.

The amyloid β (Aβ) peptides are believed to be pivotal in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis and onset of vascular dysfunction. Recent studies indicate that Aβ_1-42 treatment influences the expression of tight junction protein complexes, stress fibre formation, disruption and aggregation of actin filaments and cellular gap formation.

Aiming for functional characterization of model cells upon Aβ_1-42 treatment, we deployed an advanced Electric Cell-substrate Impedance Sensing for monitoring cell evolution. A precision Impedance Analyzer with a multiplexing module developed in house was used for recording individual electrode sets in the 40 Hz – 100 KHz frequency range. In a step forward from the classical ECIS assays, we report on a novel data analysis algorithm that enables access to cellular and paracellular electrical parameters and cell surface interaction with fully developed cell monolayers.

The evolution of the impedance at selected frequencies provides evidence for a dual effect of Aβ42 exposure, at both paracellular permeability and cell adherence level, with intricate dynamics that open up new perspectives on Aβ_1-42 oligomers – cell membrane interaction. Validation of electrical impedance assays of the amyloid fibrils effect on cell membrane structure is achieved by both AFM analysis and Surface Plasmon Resonance studies.

The capabilities of this noninvasive, real time platform for cell analysis in a wider applicative context are outlined.

This study presents the further establishment of impedimetric biosensors with aptamers as receptors. Aptamers are short single-stranded oligonucleotides which bind analytes with a specific region of their 3D structure. Electrical impedance spectroscopy is a sensitive method for analyzing changes on the electrode surface, e.g. caused by receptor-ligand-interactions. Fast and inexpensive prototyping of electrodes on the basis of commercially available compact discs having a 24 carat gold reflective layer was investigated. Electrode structures (CDtrodes [1]) in the range from few millimetres down to 100 microns were realized. The well-studied thrombin-binding aptamer (TBA) was used as receptor for characterizing these micro- and macro-electrodes. The impedance signal showed a linear correlation for concentrations of thrombin between 1.0 nM to 100 nM. This range corresponds well with most of the references and may be useful for the point-of-care testing (POCT).

While most applications of bio-impedance measurements for characterization of cells or tissue do not have any time requirements, newer developments like real time monitoring of moving cells or membrane recovery after high voltage application depend on fast measurement. This is not compatible with sweeping the frequency through the desired range while assessing magnitude and phase of the material under test (MUT). A high speed is only achievable by using broad-bandwidth excitation signals and monitoring the response in time-domain. Time-domain based methods can be distinguished by the excitation signals as well as by assessing the transmission or reflection behavior of the MUT.

Although there is good agreement regarding the advantages of fast measurements, time-domain measurements are often rejected because of low precision and noise sensitivity. This paper points not only the advantages of impedance measurements in time domain but shows also drawbacks together with possible solutions.

Electrolytic conductivity of cell-based suspensions is an important parameter which can be easily and non-destructively measured as part of the electrical impedance. The low frequency conductivity of a cell suspension with very low cell density equals nearly the medium conductivity. However, a high cell density decreases the low frequency conductivity due to the insulating behaviour of the cell membranes.

Here we use miniaturized electrode structures, smaller than the size of typical cells for impedometric conductivity measurement which allows an impedance measurement independent of the electrical properties of suspended cells or particles.

The salt concentration was determined inside of pork chop both by electrical impedance spectroscopy and by a conventional chemical method (according to Mohr). The pork chop in various depths (4 mm, 10 mm, 20 mm and 25 mm) was punctured with two stainless steel electrodes. The length of electrodes was 60 mm, and they were insulated along the length except 1 cm section on the end, so the measurement of impedance was realized in various depths. The magnitude and phase angle of impedance were measured with a HP 4284A and a HP 4285A LCR meters from 30 Hz up to 1 MHz and from 75 kHz up to 30 MHz frequency range, respectively at 1 V voltage. The distance between the electrodes was 1 cm. The impedance magnitude decreased as the salt concentration increased. The magnitude of open-short corrected impedance values at various frequencies (10 kHz, 100 kHz, 125 kHz, 1.1 MHz and 8 MHz) showed a good correlation with salt content determined by chemical procedure. The electrical impedance spectroscopy seems a prospective method for determination the salt concentration inside the meat in various depths during the curing procedure.

The novel technique based on harmonic analysis of bioimpedance microvariations with original hard- and software complex incorporating a high-resolution impedance converter was used to assess the neural activity and circulation in human urinary bladder and penis in patients with pelvic pain, erectile dysfunction, and overactive bladder. The therapeutic effects of shock wave therapy and Botulinum toxin detrusor injections were evaluated quantitatively according to the spectral peaks at low 0.1 Hz frequency (M for Mayer wave), respiratory (R) and cardiac (C) rhythms with their harmonics. Enhanced baseline regional neural activity identified according to M and R peaks was found to be presumably sympathetic in pelvic pain patients, and parasympathetic – in patients with overactive bladder. Total pulsatile activity and pulsatile resonances found in the bladder as well as in the penile spectrum characterised regional circulation and vascular tone. The abnormal spectral parameters characteristic of the patients with genitourinary diseases shifted to the norm in the cases of efficient therapy. Bioimpedance harmonic analysis seems to be a potent tool to assess regional peculiarities of circulatory and autonomic nervous activity in the course of patient treatment.