Bone Fracture Detection by Electrical Bioimpedance: First Non-Invasive Measurements in Ex-Vivo Mammalian Femur

Abstract

The fracture of long bones is one of the pathologies of greater demand of systems of medical emergencies, the method used for the diagnosis, the radiology of X-rays, produces damages to the patients and to the hospitals environment. For these reasons, our group is studying the implementation of a new diagnostic technique for the detection of bone fractures by bioimpedance measurements. To simulate a limb, two phantom of bovine femurs (the one with an entire bone and the other with a sawn bone) were constructed and non-invasive Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy measurements were taken on them in order to identify differences in their respective Cole Cole diagrams. Impedance spectroscopy was performed by a frequency sweep between 1 Hz and 65 kHz at a fixed current of 1 mA. The results obtained show wide differences in the Cole Cole diagrams of both phantoms (entire and fractured bone), especially concerning the real component of the, which latter, around the bones section corresponding to that of the lesion in both femurs, was always lower in the fractured femur than the entire one. These first superficial (non-invasive) measurements correspond to the electrical impedance spectroscopy bases and these could -in turn-correspond to what occurs in mammals immediately after the fracture happens, i. e. a dramatic increase in electrical conductivity due to diffusion into the fracture site of more conductive materials such as the blood and the extravascular fluids.

Desarrollo de un bioimpedancímetro portable para pacientes con enfermedad renal crónica y deportistas de alto rendimiento

“…Otro estudio inicia la relación entre la composición bioquímica celular y su posible uso para la temprana detección del cáncer, debido a que el cuerpo humano está compuesto por un alto porcentaje de solución electrolítica acuosa y se puede modelar, así como, futuramente, detectar cambios mínimos en los canales y flujos iónicos del cuerpo humano [9]. Además, diversa investigación ha brindado resultados optimistas en la utilización de la bioimpedancia para el estudio de las fracturas óseas y la recuperación de estas mediante la simplicidad de la obtención de datos de la misma técnica [10]. En general, el desarrollo de la bioimpedancia ha llegado a límites clínicos donde puede brindar un alto nivel de confianza a un bajo costo, no dañino para la integridad humana, poco tiempo de uso para obtener los resultados y altamente sensible a cambios leves de impedancia [11].…”

Non-destructive characterization of bone mineral content by machine learning-assisted electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

“…In this regard, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) provides a means to non-destructively assess the bone healing process by characterizing the electrical properties of the tissue. Several studies have demonstrated the feasibility of utilizing EIS for determining bone health, where tissue impedance changes at specific frequencies of the applied alternating current (AC) potential were well correlated to the radiographically determined status of bone regeneration ( Kozhevnikov et al, 2016 ; Afsarimanesh et al, 2016 ; Dell’Osa et al, 2019a ; Dell’Osa et al, 2019b ). Particularly, Lin et al utilized electrode implants to longitudinally monitor bone healing in murine fracture models, where the magnitude of impedance measurements was proportional to the quantified measures of bone volume and bone mineral density ( Lin et al, 2015 ).…”