Whole-body impedance–what does it measure?
Open accessAbstract
Although the bioelectrical impedance technique is widely used in human nutrition and clinical research, an integrated summary of the biophysical and bioelectrical bases of this approach is lacking. We summarize the pertinent electrical phenomena relevant to the application of the impedance technique in vivo and discuss the relations between electrical measurements and biological conductor volumes. Key terms in the derivation of bioelectrical impedance analysis are described and the relation between the electrical properties of tissues and tissue structure is discussed. The relation between the impedance of an object and its geometry, scale, and intrinsic electrical properties is also discussed. Correlations between whole-body impedance measurements and various bioconductor volumes, such as total body water and fat-free mass, are experimentally well established; however, the reason for the success of the impedence technique is much less clear. The bioengineering basis for the technique is critically presented and considerations are proposed that might help to clarify the method and potentially improve its sensitivity.
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Fat is poorly conductive and thus is excluded from the current flow of BIA.
“This makes sense since fat is poorly conductive and thus is excluded from the current flow of BIA [24].”
From Predicting appendicular lean and fat mass with bioelectrical impedance analysis in older adults with physical function decline – The PROVIDE study (2017) · cites this paper as [24]
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- Authors
- Foster, K., & Lukaski, H.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Foster, KR
- Venue
- The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1996-09
- Volume
- 64
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 388S-396S
- ISSN
- 0002-9165 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2165940897
- Cited by
- 429
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 5.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Electrical and Bioimpedance Tomography
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Microwave and Dielectric Measurement Techniques
- Keywords
- bioelectrical impedance analysis, body composition, total body water, fat-free mass, tissue electrical properties, tissue structure
- MeSH terms
- Body Composition, Body Water, Extracellular Space, Humans, Models, Biological, Electric Impedance
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