Development and testing of a customizable and portable bioimpedance spectroscopy meter (BioZspectra-v1)

Abstract

A portable, 4-electrode bioimpedance spectroscopy meter called BioZspectra-v1 was developed, based on thinking about a cost-competitive, highly flexible, nimble and easily customizable solution for the differing needs of researchers and scientists. There are diverse alternatives on the market but they are costly and designed for specific applications. However, research into new topics requires the manipulation of raw data and different configurations that BioZspectra-v1's hardware and software can supply, enabling customized experiments. Output current is available in 4 discrete values: 10 A, 20 A, 40 A and 100 A; frequency range is from 1 Hz to 100 kHz, with 0.1 Hz resolution; the communication port is either USB or Bluetooth, the spectrum recording can be pseudo-real-time, and point-by-point and wide types of cell connector can be used. In addition, the circuit topology is as simple as possible, without detriment to performance; weight is light, for field and in situ applications and the design complies with IEC-60601-1, for patient safety. The equipment was tested obtaining a maximum measurable impedance of 100 kΩ with an error of below 2%, and a minimum of 10Ω with an error of below 1.5%. Applied current error was below 1.5% for the whole frequency range.