Measurements of electrical impedance of biomedical objects

Some basic problems related to measurements of electrical impedance of biological objects (bioimpedance) have been presented in this paper. Particularly problems arising from impedance occurring at the sensor-tissue interface (interfacial impedances) in contact measuring methods have been discussed. The influence of finite values of impedances of the current source and voltage measuring device has also been taken into consideration. A model of the impedance sensor for the four-electrode measurement method containing the interfacial, source and measuring device impedances has been given and its frequency characteristics obtained by the computer simulation have been presented. The influence of these impedances on the shape of frequency characteristic of the sensor model has been discussed. Measurements of bioimpedance of healthy and anomalous soft tissues have been described. Some experimental results, particularly the frequency characteristics of bioimpedance, have been shown. The presented results of measurement show that bioimpedance can be a valuable source of information about the tissues, so measurement of bioimpedance can be a useful supplement to other medical diagnostic methods.