Understanding Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis

The technology that is driving towards a healthier future!

Being healthy is of prime importance in life, given the scenario it has become all the more evident to take care and keep tab on changes happening inside the body. It is not sufficient to analyse a patient’s health status by just measuring weight, height or BMI. 

The elements that are essential for a proper functioning of a human body are referred to as body composition. Body fat is one important and critical component of body composition. Ideally, it should be in the right amount, not too much not too less. 

How to ascertain that? 

The human body comprises many measurable components. The most frequently applied model to evaluate body composition in clinical, general and fitness practice is the Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. It is a broadly applied approach used to measure body composition and assess health. Allowing for early detection of an improper balance in body composition, which encourages earlier intervention and prevention of any disease or illness. It also acts as a measurement of fluid and body mass that can be a critical assessment tool of the current health status. 
 

So, what is Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA)?  

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a method to measure the components of the body, including muscle mass, body fat, and total body water, through a mechanism of resistance and reactance. Low and high- frequency electrical currents are sent through the water in the body via the electrodes to measure its reactance & resistance impedance. Based on the difference in resistance or the impedance when the electrical current is conducted through fat or lean components of the body It is used to determine total body water (TBW), and assess various parameters like fat-free mass (the portion of your body that does not contain fat, including your muscle and bone) and then body fat.  

The concept of reactance

Using the impedance and the height of the individual, it can determine the volume of total body water, followed by other specific parameters such as muscle mass and body fat percentage and much more. 

It is a safe and cost-efficient method that avoids exposure to radiation, thus, applied and practiced by many researchers, nutritionists, fitness and medical experts to asses body composition easily and accurately. Over the years the technology has evolved and has overcome the primary limitations which worked on the assumption of the human body as one single cylinder on a single frequency (50 kHz) while using empirical estimations. 

Inner Image | InBody Technology

Accelerating the growth and evolution of BIA, in 1996, InBody was developed, overcoming the limitations of traditional BIA technology and started measuring the different body segments at different frequencies. The world’s first 8-point Tactile Electrode System with Direct Segmental Analysis to measure impedance in the five segments of the body considering each as a different body cylinder, using multiple frequencies. Professional practitioners use it for measurements of body composition and fluid status without relying on empirical assumptions based on age, gender, ethnicity, or body shape, producing accurate and precise results that are validated to gold standard methods. 

What is BIA and How Has it Evolved - InBody USA

While in healthy people the body composition is balanced, in unhealthy people the balance is unstable and can be assessed by cross studies of various parameters that are assessed in the quick InBody Analysis. The possibility to analyze and evaluate the balance of body composition with the BIA technology is an important step for gauging the metabolic status, obesity index edema & protein-deficient malnutrition, to name a few, followed by the targeted corrections and possible healthier Lifestyle. 

Interested in learning more about how InBody can be utilised for you, connect with us @ +91 22 62231911.

Glance through our range of Avant-garde Body CompositionAnalysers @inbodyindia YouTube channel.

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