Modeling Bio-Impedance Measurement in a Reconstructed Model From MRI Images for Developing Electrical Impedance Tomography Application

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive device that may be used at the bedside to track a patient's breathing in real-time. EIT can rebuild the distribution of conductivity or resistivity inside a conductor's volume. Despite its novelty, EIT has not been widely used in biomedical engineering and clinical medicine. Its primary flaws are the ill-posed inverse issue, low signal-to-noise, and low spatial resolution of EIT. The selection using instrument parameters is very complicated for complex biological tissue structures or animal body parts. This study investigates a three-dimensional (3D) reconstructed model from upper-thigh DICOM Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images with different electrode and frequency scenarios for developing electrical impedance tomography applications. The 3D model is segmented and reconstructed using The Mimics Innovation Suite software. The bio-impedance measurement is investigated using COMSOL Multiphysics. The cross-sectional image is also validated using Electrical Impedance Tomography and Diffuse Optical Tomography Reconstruction Software (EIDORS). As a result, kilohertz (kHz) frequency is appropriate for examining information deep in tissue. In contrast, megahertz (MHz) frequency is suitable for investigating information on near-surface tissue. The reconstructed cross-sectional image by EIDORS has a good correlation with the cross-sectional plane of the model. The result validated and confirmed the feasibility of developing an EIT system by modeling.