Design of a microscopic electrical impedance tomography system using two current injections

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Conventional medical electrical impedance tomography (EIT) faces challenges with irregular object geometries.
• Long-term, noninvasive monitoring of cell and tissue cultures requires specialized imaging techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel microscopic electrical impedance tomography (micro-EIT) system design.
• To enable noninvasive, long-term monitoring and conductivity imaging of cell or tissue cultures.

Main Methods:

• Designed a micro-EIT system featuring a hexagonal sample container with fixed electrode configuration.
• Employed two pairs of current-injection electrodes and 360 voltage-sensing electrodes for uniform current density and precise measurements.
• Utilized a novel image reconstruction algorithm combining projection and backprojection methods for 3D conductivity imaging.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated the system's capability to generate uniform current density within the hexagonal container.
• Successfully reconstructed 3D conductivity images from differential voltage data, overcoming geometric complexities.
• Experimental results validated the micro-EIT system's design and performance.

Conclusions:

• The novel micro-EIT system offers a robust solution for noninvasive monitoring of cell and tissue cultures.
• Future work should focus on miniaturizing the sample container for true microscopic conductivity imaging.