Electrical characteristics of female and male human skin

Abstract

Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) is a popular method for characterizing the electrical properties of biological tissues. In this study, BIS measurement data of female and male human skin were analyzed and compared. The electrical characteristics of tissue were followed according to four-parameters of the Cole-Cole model: low frequency resistance R0; high frequency resistance R ∞; relaxation time τ and parameter α. Individual electrical characteristics of human skin were determined for 30 women and 30 men. The distribution and one-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) of the Cole-Cole parameters R 0, R ∞, τ, α within the human population indicated their different dependence on gender. Parameter α, which is higher in the female subjects (α =0.83±0.03) than in the male subjects (α=0.7±0.05), is strongly dependent on gender (p=0). Parameter R ∞ also significantly depends on gender (p=0.002), while τ and R 0 seem to be slightly related to gender (p>0.05).