Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effectiveness of thigh-to-thigh current path for the measurement of abdominal fat in bioelectrical impedance analysis

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We present a new method measuring body impedance using a thigh-to-thigh current path, which can reflect the abdominal fat portion more sensitively and can be conveniently applied during the daily use on a toilet seat. Two pairs of electrodes were installed on a toilet seat to provide current and to permit voltage measurement through a thigh-to-thigh current path. The effectiveness of the method was compared with conventional foot-to-foot and hand-to-foot current paths by simulation and by experiments referenced to computed tomography (CT) image analysis. Body impedance using three different current paths was measured, and abdominal CT images were acquired for eight subjects. Measured body impedances were compared with the visceral to subcutaneous fat ratio (VF/SF) calculated from the CT-determined abdominal fat volume. The thigh-to-thigh current path was about 75% more sensitive in abdominal fat measurement than the conventional current paths in simulation experiments and displayed a higher VF/SF correlation (r = 0.768) than the foot-to-foot (r = 0.425) and hand-to-foot (r = 0.497) current paths.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Adams KF, Schatzkin A, Harris TB, Kipnis V, Mouw T, Ballard-Barbash R, Hollenbeck A, Leitzmann MF (2006) Overweight, obesity, and mortality in a large prospective cohort of persons 50 to 71 years old N. Engl J Med 355(8):763–778

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Calle EE, Rodriguez C, Walker-Thurmond K, Thun MJ (2003) Overweight, obesity, and mortality from cancer in a prospectively studied cohort of U.S. adults N. Engl J Med 348(17):1625–1638

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Flegal KM, Graubard BI, Williamson DF, Gail MH (2005) Excess deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity. JAMA 293(15):1861–1867

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Jeffreys M, McCarron P, Gunnell D, McEwen J, Smith GD (2003) Body mass index in early and mid-adulthood, and subsequent mortality: a historical cohort study. Int J Obesity 27:1391–1397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Maffeis C, Tatò L (2001) Long-term effects of childhood obesity on morbidity and mortality. Horm Res 55(suppl 1):42–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Poirier P, Giles TD, Bray GA, Hong Y, Stern JS, Pi-Sunyer FX, Eckel RH (2006) Obesity and cardiovascular disease: pathophysiology, evaluation and effect of weight loss. Circulation 113:898–918

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Florence C, David BA, Re′mi R, Maxime O, David HP, Andre′anne T, Eric TP (2004) Metabolic and behavioral characteristics of metabolically obese but normal-weight women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 89:5013–5020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Baumgartner RN, Chumlea WC, Roche AF (1989) Estimation of body composition from bioelectric impedance of body segments. Am J Clin Nutr 50:221–226

    Google Scholar 

  9. Kyle UG et al (2004) Bioelectrical impedance analysis-part I: review of principles and methods. Clin Nutr 23:1226–1243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kyle UG et al (2004) Bioelectrical impedance analysis-part II: utilization in clinical practice. Clin Nutr 23:1430–1453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Tyrrell VJ, Richards G, Hofman P, Gillies GF, Robinson E, Cutfield WS (2001) Foot-to-foot bioelectrical impedance analysis: a valuable tool for the measurement of body composition in children. Int J Obesity 25:273–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Turner AA, Lozano-Nieto A, Bouffard M (2002) Comparison of segmental and global bioimpedance spectroscopy errors using generalizability theory Physiol. Meas 23:43–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Scharfetter H, Brunner P, Mayer M, Brandstätter B, Hinghofer-Szalkay H (2005) Fat and hydration monitoring by abdominal bioimpedance analysis: data interpretation by hierarchial electrical modeling. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 52(6):975–982

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Organ LW, Bradham GB, Gore DW, Lozier SL (1994) Segmental bioelectrical impedance analysis: theory and application of a new technique. J Appl Physiol 77:98–112

    Google Scholar 

  15. Mellar PD, Tugba Y, Dilara K, Jordanka K, Declan W, Lasheen W, Ruth L, Matthew TK (2009) Bioelectrical impedance phase angle changes during hydration and prognosis in advanced cancer. Am J Hospice Pall Med, CARE Online First, doi:10.1177/1049909108330028

  16. Faes TJC, van der Meij HA, de Munck JC, Heethaar RM (1999) Topical review—The electric resistivity of human tissues (100 Hz–10 MHz): a meta-analysis of review studies. Physiol Meas 20:R1–R10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Lukaski HC, Bolonchuk WW, Hall CB, Siders WA (1986) Validation of tetrapolar bioelectrical impedance method to assess human body composition. J Appl Physiol 60(4):1327–1332

    Google Scholar 

  18. Frankenfield DC, Rowe WA, Cooney RN, Smith JS, Becker D (2001) Limits of body mass index to detect obesity and predict body composition. Nutrition 17:26–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Pecoraro P, Guida B, Caroli M, Trio R, Falconi C, Principato S, Pietrobelli A (2003) Body mass index and skinfold thickness versus bioimpedance analysis: fat mass prediction in children. Acta Diabetol 40:S278–S281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Björntorp P (1992) Abdominal fat distribution and disease: an overview of epidemiological data. Ann Med 24(1):15–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Michael IG, Barbara AG (1999) Relation between visceral fat and disease risk in children and adolescents. Am J Clin Nutr 70:S149–S156

    Google Scholar 

  22. Eguchi Y, Eguchi T, Mizuta T, Ide Y, Yasutake T, Iwakiri R, Hisatomi A, Ozaki I, Yamamoto K, Kitajima Y, Kawaguchi Y, Kuroki S, Ono N (2006) Visceral fat accumulation and insulin resistance are important factors in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. J Gastroenterol 41:462–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Tokunaga K, Matsuzawa Y, Ishikawa K, Tarui S (1983) A novel technique for the determination of body fat by computed tomography. Int J Obes 7:437–445

    Google Scholar 

  24. Allison GT, Singer KP, Marshall RN (1995) The effect of body position on bioelectrical resistance in individuals with spinal cord injury. Disab Rehab 17(8):424–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Cornish BH, Thomas BJ, Ward LC (1993) Improved prediction of extracellular and total body water using impedance loci generated by multiple frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis. Phys Med Biol 38:337–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Fujioka S, Matsuzawa Y, Tokunaga K, Tarui S (1987) Contribution of intra-abdominal fat accumulation to the impairment of glucose and lipid metabolism in human obesity. Metabolism 36(1):54–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the ERC program of MOST/KOSEF. (Grant R11-2001-094-03001-0)

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Program, Medical and Biological Engineering Major, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

    Ki Hwan Hong

  2. Department of Oriental Biomedical Engineering, Sangji University, Wonju, Korea

    Yong Gyu Lim

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

    Kwang Suk Park

Authors
  1. Ki Hwan Hong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yong Gyu Lim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kwang Suk Park
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kwang Suk Park.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hong, K.H., Lim, Y.G. & Park, K.S. Effectiveness of thigh-to-thigh current path for the measurement of abdominal fat in bioelectrical impedance analysis. Med Biol Eng Comput 47, 1265–1271 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0551-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0551-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation