Bioimpedance analysis is broadly used in healthcare applications viz body

composition measurements and healthcare assessment systems. In addition bioimpedance

measurement is utilized for disease prognosis and monitoring of body vital status. Studies on the
electrical properties of biological tissues have been going on since the late 18th century.
Bioimpedance measurement is used in total body water estimation using needle electrodes. Tetra
polar electrode method for bioimpedance measurements is applied to estimate the fat free mass
of the human body. Due to the noninvasiveness, the low cost and the portability of bioimpedance
analysis systems, numerous researchers have conducted studies on bioimpedance analysis and its
applications in body composition estimation and evaluation of clinical conditions.
Bioimpedance measurement is done using single frequency, multiple frequencies or
broadband frequency spectrum signals. In addition bioimpedance measurement is applied across
the whole body or through body segments. Alternative analysis methods such as vector
bioimpedance analysis and real time bioimpedance methods are also used. The bioimpedance
vector analysis method (BIVA) is a novel approach established essentially to estimate the
hydration status using height indexed resistance and reactance data (R-Xc graph) from
bioimpedance measurements.
In bioimpedance analysis, the elementary data obtained during the measurement
process is dependent on the geometrical structure of electrode. The minimum number of
electrodes required to perform the bioimpedance measurements are two in which current
injection and the potential difference measurement are done on the same pair of electrodes.
However the change in skin-electrode contact impedance

introduces error in impedance

measurement. The tetrapolar electrode approach is widely applied for whole bioimpedance
measurements because of the insensitivity of impedance measurement to the change in skinelectrode contact impedance.

Generally Ag-AgCl electrodes are used in bioimpedance

measurements because it offers minimum skin electrode contact impedance. Circular and
rectangular electrode shapes with a contact area greater than 4 cm2 are the most commonly used
shapes.
Electrical properties of biological tissue
Bioimpedance or biological impedance is the measure of the ability of biological
tissue to impede electric current. Passive response occurs when biological tissues are simulated
through an external electrical current source. The electrical structure of the body by which

bioimpedance is determined is represented by the cellular structure. The cells of human body
comprises extracellular water (ECW) and intracellular water (ICW) which causes resistance Re
an Ri respectively and the cell membrane causes a resistance Rm in parallel to the capacitance
Cm in total results in impedance of human body which in turn known as bioimpedance. This
cellular model is known as Frickes electrical model and several approximations are made to
achieve the circuit model of the cell as shown in Figure 1. Electrically the intra-cellular and
extra-cellular fluid acts as a resistance Ri and Re respectively.

Figure 1

Fricke's electrical model and circuit representation of the cellular structure

The cell membrane acts as a membrane resistance R parallel to a membrane

capacitor C. Bioimpedance is a complex quantity composed of resistance (R) which is caused by

total body water and reactance (Xc) that is caused by the capacitance of the cell membrane:
Bioimpedance, Z = R+jXc

The bioimpedance estimation is based on passing a small alternating current through the
human body. At low frequencies current pass through extracellular fluids and at high
frequencies it penetrates the cellular membrane and gets access to intracellular fluid.