Bioimpedance and Bioelectricity Basics

Ørjan G. Martinsen received his M.Sc. and PhD in electronic engineering from the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo, with both of his theses focusing on the electrical properties of human skin. Since completing his PhD in 1995, Martinsen has held a permanent position in the same department and currently leads the electronics research section and is Coordinator of the Oslo Bioimpedance Group. As well as his work at the university, Martinsen also holds a part time research position in the Department of Clinical and Biomedical Engineering at Oslo University Hospital, his main research interest being electrical bioimpedance. With Sverre Grimnes he is the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Electrical Bioimpedance (www.bioimpedance.net). Sverre Grimnes graduated in 1963 as an electronic engineer from the Technical University of Trondheim. He spent four years at SI, Oslo followed by a year at Sorbonne in Paris before moving to the University of Oslo’s Department of Chemistry. From 1973-2001 he was Head of the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Engineering at Rikshospitalet and since 1984 has also been Professor at the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo. His research interests include electrical and physiological properties of human skin, patient electrical safety, and bioimpedance basic theory and instrumentation. Professor Grimnes authored a hugely successful Norwegian book series on Medical Technology and has been awarded the Herman P Schwan Award and the Kings Gold Medal of Merit.

1. Introduction2. Electrolytics3. Dielectrics4. Passive Tissue Electrical Properties5. Excitable Tissue and Bioelectric Signals6. Geometrical Analysis7. Electrodes8. Instrumentation and Measurements9. Data and Models10. Selected Applications11. History of Bioimpedance and Bioelectricity12. Appendix