Total body electrical conductivity measurements: effects of body composition and geometry

This study used an animal model to analyze the effect of body geometry and chemical composition on the calibration of a total body electrical conductivity (TOBEC) instrument developed to measure the body composition of human infants. The TOBEC signal (adjusted for length) of infant miniature pigs from 10 to 33 days of age correlated highly with their chemically analyzed fat-free mass (FFM; r = 0.998) and total body water contents (TBW; r = 0.998); 95% prediction intervals (approximately +/- 2 SEE) for individual measurements were +/- 0.16 kg FFM and +/- 0.12 liter water. These values were significantly improved (+/- 0.08 kg and +/- 0.06 liter, respectively) by accounting for individual variability in weight/length2. The effect of variations in the composition of FFM on the TOBEC measurements was evaluated by comparing the response of the infant piglets with that of adult rabbits of similar size. The differences in composition, primarily TBW and Na content, were insufficient to alter the electrical properties of FFM appreciably. Thus the TOBEC used under the conditions defined in this study accurately predicted the FFM and TBW content of infant miniature pigs. The calibration derived from the piglets will be applicable to the interpretation of the TOBEC measurements of human infants provided their FFM is of comparable shape to that of the piglets. Differences in composition are likely to be of consequence only if the proportion of fat within the FFM and the FFM density are widely divergent. This, however, does not appear to be the case.