Detection of animal tissue thickness using simple vertical electric sounding (VES)

Tetrapolar linear arrays are commonly used in geophysics to explore the vertical distribution of resistivity values in a geological section of a specific point on the earth. This technique, known as vertical electric sounding (VES), uses different electrode configurations. For our experiments, we utilized its more popular variation, called the Schlumberger arrangement (VES-Sch), to make measurements on a system composed of pig backfat placed on a conductive paste that simulates the longitudinal resistivity of muscle. The results show that the physical and mathematical principles involved in VES-Sch are applicable to animal structures such as that composed of skin and fat and that it could be possible, for instance, to determine the thickness of the subcutaneous fat. This might be useful in studies of body composition and to evaluate nutritional status. In the future, an electrical impedance tomograph (EIT) of low frequency could be used to obtain static images using this approach.