Measuring the impedance frequency response of systems by means of frequency sweep electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) takes time. An alternative based on broadband signals enables the user to acquire simultaneous impedance response data collection. This is directly reflected in a short measuring time compared to the frequency sweep approach. As a result of this increase in the measuring speed, the accuracy of the impedance spectrum is compromised. The aim of this paper is to study how the choice of the broadband signal can contribute to mitigate this accuracy loss. A review of the major advantages and pitfalls of four different periodic broadband excitations suitable to be used in EIS applications is presented. Their influence on the instrumentation and impedance spectrum accuracy is analyzed. Additionally, the signal processing tools to objectively evaluate the quality of the impedance spectrum are described. In view of the experimental results reported, the impedance spectrum signal-to-noise ratio (SNRZ) obtained with multisine or discrete interval binary sequence signals is about 20–30 dB more accurate than maximum length binary sequence or chirp signals.

The bioimpedance measurement/identification of time-varying biological systems Z(ω, t) by means of electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is still a challenge today. This paper presents a novel measurement and identification approach, the so-called parametric-in-time approach, valid for time-varying (bio-)impedance systems with a (quasi) periodic character. The technique is based on multisine EIS. Contrary to the widely used nonparametric-in-time strategy, the (bio-)impedance Z(ω, t) is assumed to be time-variant during the measurement interval. Therefore, time-varying spectral analysis tools are required. This new parametric-in-time measuring/identification technique has experimentally been validated through three independent sets of in situ measurements of in vivo myocardial impedance. We show that the time-varying myocardial impedance Z(ω, t) is dominantly periodically time varying (PTV), denoted as ZPTV(ω, t). From the temporal analysis of ZPTV(ω, t), we demonstrate that it is possible to decompose ZPTV(ω, t) into a(n) (in)finite sum of fundamental (bio-)impedance spectra, the so-called harmonic impedance spectra (HIS) Zk(ω)s with [Formula: see text]. This is similar to the well-known Fourier series of a periodic signal, but now understood at the level of a periodic system's frequency response. The HIS Zk(ω)s for [Formula: see text] actually summarize in the bi-frequency (ω, k) domain all the temporal in-cycle information about the periodic changes of Z(ω, t). For the particular case k = 0 (i.e. on the ω-axis), Z0(ω) reflects the mean in-cycle behavior of the time-varying bioimpedance. Finally, the HIS Zk(ω)s are directly identified from noisy current and voltage myocardium measurements at the multisine measurement frequencies (i.e. nonparametric-in-frequency).

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Classical measurements of myocardium tissue electrical impedance for characterizing the morphology of myocardium cells, as well as cell membranes integrity and intra/extra cellular spaces, are based on the frequency-sweep electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. In contrast to the frequency-sweep EIS approach, measuring with broadband signals, i.e., multisine excitations, enables to collect, simultaneously, multiple myocardium tissue impedance data in a short measuring time. However, reducing the measuring time makes the measurements to be prone to the influence of the transients introduced by noise and the dynamic time-varying properties of tissue. This paper presents a novel approach for the impedance-frequency-response estimation based on the local polynomial method (LPM). The fast LPM version presented rejects the leakage error's influence on the impedance frequency response when measuring electrical bioimpedance in a short time. The theory is supported by a set of validation measurements. Novel preliminary experimental results obtained from real-time in vivo healthy myocardium tissue impedance characterization within the cardiac cycle using multisine excitation are reported.

Abstract-Electrical properties of myocardial tissue are anisotropic due to the complex structure of the myocardial fiber orientation and the distribution of gap junctions. For this reason, measured myocardial impedance may differ depending on the current distribution and direction with respect to myocardial fiber orientation and, consequently, according to the measurement method. The objective of this study is to compare the specific impedance spectra of the myocardium measured using two different methods. One method consisted of transmural measurements using an intracavitary catheter and the other method consisted of nontransmural measurements using a four-needle probe inserted into the epicardium. Using both methods, we provide the in situ specific impedance spectrum (magnitude and phase angle) of normal, ischemic, and infarcted pig myocardium tissue from 1 kHz to 1 MHz. Magnitude spectra showed no significant differences between the measurement techniques. However, the phase angle spectra showed significant differences for normal and ischemic tissues according to the measurement technique. The main difference is encountered after 60 min of acute ischemia in the phase angle spectrum. Healed myocardial tissue showed a small and flat phase angle spectrum in both methods due to the low content of cells in the transmural infarct scar. In conclusion, both transmural and nontransmural measurements of phase angle spectrum allow the differentiation among normal, ischemic, and infarcted tissue.