Electrical Bioimpedance Cerebral Monitoring: Fundamental Steps towards Clinical Application
Doctoral thesis, 2007

Neurologically related injuries cause a similar number of deaths as cancer, and brain damage is the second commonest cause of death in the world and probably the leading cause of permanent disability. The devastating effects of most cases of brain damage could be avoided if it were detected and medical treatment initiated in time. The passive electrical properties of biological tissue have been investigated for almost a century and electrical bioimpedance studies in neurology have been performed for more than 50 years. Even considering the extensive efforts dedicated to investigating potential applications of electrical bioimpedance for brain monitoring, especially in the last 20 years, and the specifically acute need for such non-invasive and efficient diagnosis support tools, Electrical Bioimpedance technology has not made the expected breakthrough into clinical application yet. In order to reach this stage in the age of evidence-based medicine, the first essential step is to demonstrate the biophysical basis of the method under study. The present research work confirms that the cell swelling accompanying the hypoxic/ischemic injury mechanism modifies the electrical properties of brain tissue, and shows that by measuring the complex electrical bioimpedance it is possible to detect the changes resulting from brain damage. For the development of a successful monitoring method, after the vital biophysical validation it is critical to have available the proper electrical bioimpedance technology and to implement an efficient protocol of use. Electronic instrumentation is needed for broadband spectroscopy measurements of complex electrical bioimpedance; the selection of the electrode setup is crucial to obtain clinically relevant measurements, and the proper biosignal analysis and processing is the core of the diagnosis support system. This work has focused on all these aspects since they are fundamental for providing the solid medico-technological background necessary to enable the clinical usage of Electrical Bioimpedance for cerebral monitoring.

Biomedical Instrumentation

Ischemia

Hypoxia

Non-invasive Monitoring

Electrical Bioimpedance Spectroscopy

Stroke

Impedance Measurements

Brain Monitoring

Lecture Room ED, Hörsalsvägen 11
Opponent: Prof. Ørjan Grøttem Martinsen

Author

Fernando Seoane Martinez

Chalmers, Signals and Systems, Signal Processing and Biomedical Engineering

Subject Categories

Medical Laboratory and Measurements Technologies

Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering

Control Engineering

Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering

ISBN

978-91-7291-971-6

Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers tekniska högskola. Ny serie: 2652

Lecture Room ED, Hörsalsvägen 11

Opponent: Prof. Ørjan Grøttem Martinsen

More information

Created

10/7/2017