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A portable meter for measuring low frequency currents in the human body
Author(s) -
Niple J.C.,
Daigle J.P.,
Zaffanella L.E.,
Sullivan T.,
Kavet R.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
bioelectromagnetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-186X
pISSN - 0197-8462
DOI - 10.1002/bem.20000
Subject(s) - bioelectromagnetics , acoustics , metre , electrical impedance , flow measurement , sensitivity (control systems) , measure (data warehouse) , electrical engineering , computer science , physics , electronic engineering , engineering , mechanics , electromagnetic field , quantum mechanics , astronomy , database
A portable meter has been developed for measuring low frequency currents that flow in the human body. Although the present version of the meter was specifically designed to measure 50/60 Hz “contact currents,” the principles involved can be used with other low frequency body currents. Contact currents flow when the human body provides a conductive path between objects in the environment with different electrical potentials. The range of currents the meter detects is approximately 0.4–800 μA. This provides measurements of currents from the threshold of human perception (∼500 μA RMS ) down to single microampere levels. The meter has a unique design, which utilizes the human subject's body impedance as the sensing element. Some of the advantages of this approach are high sensitivity, the ability to measure current flow in the majority of the body, and relative insensitivity to the current path connection points. Current measurement accuracy varies with the accuracy of the body impedance (resistance) measurement and different techniques can be used to obtain a desired level of accuracy. Techniques are available to achieve an estimated ±20% accuracy. Bioelectromagnetics 25:369–373, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.