Electrical Impedance Tomography: From the Traditional Design to the Novel Frontier of Wearables

Abstract

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a medical imaging technique based on the injection of a current or voltage pattern through electrodes on the skin of the patient, and on the reconstruction of the internal conductivity distribution from the voltages collected by the electrodes. Compared to other imaging techniques, EIT shows significant advantages: it does not use ionizing radiation, is non-invasive and is characterized by high temporal resolution. Moreover, its low cost and high portability make it suitable for real-time, bedside monitoring. However, EIT is also characterized by some technical limitations that cause poor spatial resolution. The possibility to design wearable devices based on EIT has recently given a boost to this technology. In this paper we reviewed EIT physical principles, hardware design and major clinical applications, from the classical to a wearable setup. A wireless and wearable EIT system seems a promising frontier of this technology, as it can both facilitate making clinical measurements and open novel scenarios to EIT systems, such as home monitoring.

Evaluation of adjacent and opposite current injection patterns for a wearable chest electrical impedance tomography system

“…in the isolation ward of ICU, as well as remote monitoring in non-hospital environments (e.g. patients' homes) (Yang et al 2021b, Pennati et al 2023. At present, the wearable EIT system seems a promising frontier of EIT technique.…”

Posterior Approximate Clustering-Based Sensitivity Matrix Decomposition for Electrical Impedance Tomography

“…Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is an imaging technique that continuously reconstructs and visualizes the electrical conductivity distribution inside an object [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. EIT has the advantages of safety, no radiation, fast response, portability, and low cost.…”

Optimization of Electrode Configuration for 3-D Brain EIT

“…Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is an imaging technique for estimating the distribution of electrical conductivity changes inside the body. It involves injecting safe currents through paired electrodes with specific patterns and measuring boundary voltages with other electrodes, followed by using algorithms to reconstruct EIT images [1]. EIT has advantages such as high temporal resolution, low cost, real-time imaging, ease of operation, and completely non-invasive, making it a valuable complement to modern medical imaging technology [2][3][4].…”