Portable Bioimpedance Spectroscopy device and textile electrodes for mobile monitoring applications

Abstract

A balanced body composition is necessary for a person's health and performance. Therefore, it is important to control the body composition continuously since complications and diseases due to dehydration often appear gradually. Based on these facts a miniaturized mobile Bioimpedance Spectroscopy device was developed that can be integrated into clothing and allows the continuous monitoring of a person's body water. The implemented system has been tested using different body models. The first measurements showed very precise and stable results. Besides the portable measurement system, textile electrodes are needed for continuous long term monitoring. Therefore, special textile electrodes were developed, tested and evaluated. The electrodes are structured in a specific way leading to a rougher surface. Such a surface improves the interface impedance and therefore optimizes the connection between electronic hardware and body. For comparison, five different structured electrodes were manufactured and tested on a special test setup that allows reproducible interface-impedance measurements using a dummy made of agar-agar to simulate the skin. It could be shown that the surface structure significantly influences the interface impedance in a positive way as compared to standard plane textile electrodes. In the future, a combination of the miniaturized BIS electronic and the structured textile electrodes could allow reproducible long term monitoring of a person's body composition.