BIA impedance measurement device -
Close Search. BIA Technology InBody Blog A Guide to Buying Your First BIA Device By InBody USA October 9, February 6th, No Comments. Home » Blogs » A Guide to Buying Your First BIA Device People are finally taking notice: body composition is useful for measuring health; BMI is not.
Check the frequencies All BIA devices use at least one electric current set at a specific frequency to measure body composition. See what outputs it provides BIA devices range widely in capabilities and the outputs they are able to produce.
Here are a few other BIA outputs to look for and some reasons why you would want to track these in addition to body fat: Skeletal Muscle Mass : Skeletal Muscle Mass is the muscle that you can grow and develop through exercise and proper nutrition.
It also has a significant influence on change in Lean Body Mass. However, Lean Body Mass can also be influenced by other factors such as body water. Phase Angle : Phase Angle is a measurement of the relationship between reactance, resistance, and impedance.
This has an impact on your overall health. Find out what information it needs important All BIA devices are going to require your weight at the very minimum. Summary There are a lot of things to consider when looking for a BIA device.
You c an do more with more results. Changes in body fat percentages can be tricky to explain if the only outputs you have are Fat and Fat Free Mass. Check what information the device needs from you in order to test.
Understand what the device is actually measuring and what it is estimating. Love 24 Share Tweet Share Pin.
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Term Length. Professional Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis BIA devices are fast, inexpensive, and reliable tools for measuring and tracking crucial body composition results, such as body water, fat, muscle, and cellular health.
Like any precision medical-grade instrument, they need to be used correctly in order to produce trustworthy results! Is it possible to "trick" a BIA device into calculating results that look "better" than they should be in reality? Of course! Think of a fitness center that holds a "fat burning contest", seeing which member lost the most body fat over a period of 6 weeks.
A person might try to make their starting weight heavier than usual by drinking a lot of water before measurement, or wearing heavy clothing during measurement , so it's easier for them to show a big change at the end, and win the contest! If you wear a heavy coat during measurement, will the device think you have higher body fat?
BIA works by analyzing your age, weight, height, impedance, and other factors. If 2 people have the exact same impedance and other measured data, but one person is 5 kg heavier, the device might calculate the heavier person as having more body fat.
Similarly, if you chug a gallon of water before measurement please don't do this! What else can go wrong? As a result, fat-free mass is more likely to be underestimated.
Hydration levels vary widely throughout the day, which explains why consistency is an important factor in accurate BIA estimation.
However, fat-free mass is still often underestimated in children. Because the equations that interpret the fat-free mass based on total body water results rely on reference population segments, the body composition estimate might be inaccurate for people considered to be overfat.
People wearing metal implants may experience an underestimated body fat reading. However, this reading will remain constant over time, so they can successfully track their changes in body composition. Many devices have been designed to measure bioelectrical impedance with increased accuracy and convenience over the years.
Using the same measurement method, they mainly differ in terms of the number of electrodes and which section of the body is being measured vs. which one is being estimated. Beyond the design of these devices, what matters is also the nature and complexity of the algorithm performed to estimate total body water and fat-free mass based on the received frequencies.
To build these algorithms, scientists use body fat standards that can vary. Using smart scales to measure your body composition can help you reliably and cost-effectively track changes if the measurement remains at a consistent level.
These scales have the ability to send the electrical current up one leg and down the other leg. Before using, users must set their age, height, and sex.
Also called hand-to-hand impedance devices, they measure arm and upper trunk bioimpedance. These common BIA devices are composed of four electrodes, each of which are placed on half of the body left or right , sending a current from the arm through the body and down the leg.
The Direct Segmental Multi-Frequency BIA or DSM-BIA is the most advanced, and also the most expensive, device providing bioelectrical impedance analysis. This device divides the body into 5 segments and independently measures the impedance for each segment.
Bioelectrical impedance analysis BIA remains a quick and safe method for estimating body composition in adults. This is why this cost-effective alternative is widely used in clinics and in sports medicine and other health-related fields.
Many research efforts are yet to agree on a standard that can help correct the remaining questions of interpretation bias when using the BIA method. However, consistency in measurements accurately helps to detect variations, which makes it easy for anyone to track changes in body composition.
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Professional BIA impedance measurement device BIAA Analysis BIA devices are lmpedance, inexpensive, and reliable measyrement for measuring and tracking crucial body composition devoce, such as Carb counting for blood sugar control Glucagon hormone synthesis, fat, muscle, and cellular health. Like any precision medical-grade instrument, they need to be used correctly in order to produce trustworthy results! Is it possible to "trick" a BIA device into calculating results that look "better" than they should be in reality? Of course! Think of a fitness center that holds a "fat burning contest", seeing which member lost the most body fat over a period of 6 weeks.BIA impedance measurement device -
This estimation was used to determine TBW, lean mass, and fat mass. The estimation of intracellular water was based on the assumption that the ratio of ICW to ECW in healthy adults is about However, individuals with body compositions that differ from conventionally healthy adults, such as elderly, obese or chronic disease patients, often have a higher ratio of ECW.
Thus, in these patient populations, relying on the ICW:ECW ratio could result in significant error. InBody uses multiple frequencies ranging from 1 kHz to 1 MHz to provide precision body water analysis. Electrical currents interact differently with the cells at different frequencies, which allows the InBody to quantify the different fluid compartments.
Low frequencies are better suited for measuring ECW, while high frequencies can pass through cell membranes to measure ICW and therefore TBW. An accurate measure of TBW and the ability to analyze ICW versus ECW allows for a deeper analysis of individual body composition.
Compartmental water measures can be used to properly quantify and identify changes in fluid balance to reflect nutritional status and fitness progress. If the starting measurement position changes, the length of the measured cylinder also changes. This directly impacts impedance and introduces error.
When the human body comes in contact with an electrode, resistance occurs. To accurately measure the resistance in the human body, it is important to control the measurement location. These designs can cause measurements to start in the palm, which has a high impedance and can cause inaccuracies, or lead to inconsistent measurement starting points, reducing the reliability of results.
The anatomical design of the hand electrode creates a simple holding position that is easy to reproduce. Utilizing the anatomical characteristics of the human body, when an InBody user grasps the hand grip, current flows from the palm electrode and the electrical energy, or voltage, is initiated at the thumb electrode.
When current and voltage overlap, impedance can be measured. By separating current and voltage into the hand and foot electrodes, the point of overlap can be controlled to isolate the five cylinders of the body limbs and torso and consistently start at the same location on the wrists and ankles for reproducible results.
With this design, the point of measure stays the same even when the user changes the holding position of the hand electrode or the contact points on the hands and feet. Traditional BIA views the human body as one cylinder. However, the torso of the body needs to be measured separately because its short length and large cross-sectional area mean that even a small measurement mistake can lead to substantial error.
Direct segmental measurement bioelectrical impedance analysis regards the human body as five cylinders: left arm, right arm, torso, left leg, and right leg. InBody independently measures each cylinder to provide accurate measurements for the entire body. Traditional BIA systems viewed the human body as a single cylinder, using whole-body impedance to determine total body water.
One of the biggest problems with the single cylinder method is the lack of a separate torso measurement. The torso has the shortest length and highest cross-sectional area, which results in a very low impedance typically ohms.
Therefore, small errors in torso impedance have significant impact on body composition results. With whole-body impedance measurement, the torso impedance is not observed separately and thus, changes in torso impedance cannot be quantified.
Because of the large amount of lean mass in the torso, small variability in impedance measures can have a drastic effect on how the results are interpreted. Differences and percentages may vary based on the individual. Some BIA devices avoid the torso measurement entirely. For example, with many BIA scales, only the impedance of your legs and a small part of your torso are measured.
Similarly, with handheld BIA devices, only the impedance of your arms and a small portion of your torso are measured. With this design, the rest of the body must be estimated. In many bioimpedance technologies today , empirical equations are incorporated to compensate for technological flaws, including the lack of torso impedance due to whole-body impedance measurement , single frequency measurements which are unable to differentiate between water compartments , and lack of reproducibility from electrode placement or positioning.
InBody measures body composition 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. Put simply, InBody provides individualized feedback for better tracking of progress to help you achieve your goals.
These equations help compensate for the lack of torso impedance measurement and ability to differentiate between body water compartments by plugging in empirical data based on factors, such as age, gender, and ethnicity.
For example, these equations may take into consideration that muscle mass generally decreases with age and that males tend to have more muscle mass than females. This expectation is then reflected in the results. Therefore, the problem with relying heavily on empirical estimations is that your results are predetermined, regardless of your actual body composition.
Testing on the InBody will give a user the same body composition measurements whether that user tests as a male or female because the InBody does not use empirical estimations based on factors of age, gender, ethnicity, athleticism, or body shape in its measurements. In other words, direct measures of your impedance and water distribution are used to determine your individualized results.
Because of its technology, InBody has been found to be one of the most accurate BIA devices on the market. In fact, it has been found to have a high correlation of 0. InBody devices are used by leading professionals around the world to give their clients results they can trust and track.
Disclaimer: Please be aware that your actual monthly payment liability is subject to change based on the amount financed, which is at the financer's discretion and that the amount shown here is merely an estimate and does not include applicable federal and sales tax.
Hit enter to search or ESC to close. Close Search. InBody Technology. Menu What is BIA? The History of BIA Technology The Evolution of BIA through InBody. What is Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis BIA?
Resistance When an electrical current is sent through your body, components such as body water, fat, muscle, and bone present varying levels of resistance. Reactance In addition to the resistance described above, the human body presents another type of resistance, called reactance.
The body is composed of trillions of cells, each of which is protected by a cell membrane that separates the inside of the cell intracellular from the outside extracellular environment. Impedance: The combination of resistance and reactance Impedance is the vector sum of resistance and reactance.
The History of BIA Technology. Source: Hoffer, E. Below is more to help you decide. While "bioelectrical impedance analysis" sounds technical, BIA devices use straightforward technology. They measure the rate at which a painless low-level electrical current travels through your body.
Different tissues in your body allow the electrical current to travel at individual speeds. Fat is more resistant than muscle or water, so the higher the resistance, the higher the body fat percentage calculation is likely to be.
Most scales measure an estimate of your total fat, muscle, water, and bone in weight and percentage. Based on that rate, a calculation is used to estimate fat-free mass. The device then uses other data such as your height, gender, and weight measurements to determine your body fat percentage.
There are different types of BIA devices, but each requires two contact points. On a handheld device, the two points are your two hands called hand-hand BIA. The two contact points on a typical BIA scale are your two feet called foot-foot bioelectrical impedance analysis.
This means that when you use the device, you place each foot on a pad, and the current travels through your body between your feet. There are also hand-to-foot BIA devices, as well.
Many of the newer models of BIA scales link with a smartphone app so you can track your progress over time. The price of your BIA scale will depend on how sophisticated the product is. Some scales use more than one frequency and more advanced algorithms to provide a result.
And some offer segmental fat analysis, meaning you can get body fat measurements for each leg, arm, and belly. Some experts say that segmental fat analysis using hand-foot BIA is more accurate because hand-hand devices primarily measure the upper body, while foot-foot scales primarily measure the lower body.
Bioelectrical impedance analysis devices are considered safe for most people. However, BIA should not be used by anyone with an electronic medical implant, such as a heart pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator ICD.
Also, most device makers recommend that pregnant people not use the products. Some studies showed that bioelectrical impedance analysis is a reasonably accurate method for estimating body fat. But these research studies generally do not test the scales you find in the store. Experts generally agree that the accuracy of the measurement depends, in part, on the quality of the device.
In addition, other factors may affect a reading when you use a BIA scale. Some researchers also say that ethnicity can affect the accuracy of BIA measurements. Overall, studies show that this method is not very accurate although it may be able to track change over time, your results are unlikely to reflect your actual body composition.
Even if you get an accurate reading on a bioimpedance scale, the number represents an estimate of your total body fat percentage.
Bioelectrical impedance analysis does not accurately measure your total body fat. Most scales also cannot tell you where fat is located on your body. Even though many factors can affect your reading accuracy, a regular BIA scale can show you changes in your body fat over time.
The actual number may not be perfect, but you can still track changes to your body composition. Because many BIA scales offer several features for a reasonable cost and are a quick and easy way to estimate body fat percent, body fat scales that use bioelectrical impedance analysis are a worthwhile investment for consumers who are curious about their body composition.
Keep in mind that they are not likely to be very accurate but you can use them to track changes over time. Using another method of tracking your body composition can help you get a better picture of your actual measurements.
Lean tissues are highly-conductive, as they contain large quantities of water. In contrast, bone and adipose tissue are dielectric substances and are poor conductors [4]. BIA assumes that the human body is composed of a series of cylinders, uniform in shape, length, cross-sectional area, and with constant conductivity.
Total body water TBW is estimated, and this estimation is used to calculate fat-free mass. Fat mass is then calculated as the difference between fat-free mass and body mass. Several methods have been used to assess body composition in humans, each with advantages and drawbacks surrounding cost, validity, reliability , and accessibility.
It is unclear how many frequencies would be needed for a BIA device to be considered a BIS device, however, the principles behind how the devices work are the same. Therefore, for this review, BIA will be used to denote all bioelectrical impedance assessments.
Hand-held BIA Different types of BIA analysers are available, such as hand-held and leg-to-leg devices. Hand-held BIA machines assess the conductance of a small alternating current through the upper body and use built-in software to calculate body composition after it has been calibrated with the following variables: weight, height, age, and gender [6].
This method may be of benefit in a field setting, due to its convenience. Leg-to-Leg BIA Similar to hand-held methods, leg-to-leg BIA involves an individual standing on scales with four electrodes situated at each footplate, with a low-level current passed through the lower body.
The path of the electrical current may differ between this method and the hand-held method, and could potentially influence body composition results; though this issue is discussed later in the article. Hand-to-Foot BIA Hand-to-foot BIA uses electrodes in a mounted footplate, as well as electrodes in hand grips, to determine whole-body measurements.
As hand-held and leg-to-leg methods may not account for the resistance of the lower- or upper body, respectively, it is logical to assume that hand-to-foot measurements may better reflect whole-body composition than the alternatives.
Estimates of body composition using BIA are facilitated using empirically validated equations, which consider variables including gender, race, height, weight, and age. Consequently, it is important the correct equation is used for the population measured to ensure that any results are valid.
It is also important to understand the reference assessment method used to validate these equations. For example, many BIA equations are validated against assessment methods such as hydrostatic weighing and Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry DEXA. From the results of this assessment method, the manufacturer constructs an equation using the individual variables mentioned previously to determine what the body fat would be.
These equations will have an error rate when compared to the hydrostatic weighing method, and thus, this error is multiplied by the original error of the reference method to provide a body composition assessment that may be somewhat distant from the actual values reported using a four-compartment model.
The validity the agreement between the true value and a measurement value of body composition is key to determining the precision of BIA measurement, and its suitability for clinical use.
The criterion method for determining body composition is the four-compartment model 1] fat mass, 2] total body water, 3] bone mineral mass, and 4] residual mass , and should be used when assessing the validity of BIA measurements. BIA has been compared to the four-compartment model in several studies using various populations.
Sun et al. It is important to note that this analysis utilised DEXA as the reference method, which may also lead to further error, as eluded to earlier in this review read my article on the use of DEXA scanning for body composition assessment HERE. The validity of BIA for one-off measures of body composition Despite studies showing promising effects of BIA on body composition , this has not been found in a large body of research.
BIA has been shown to underestimate fat mass and overestimate fat-free mass by 1. This finding is supported by other research on bodybuilders, showing that BIA underestimated fat mass, and overestimated fat-free mass when compared to the four-compartment model [10].
Research conducted by Jebb et al. The authors subsequently developed a novel prediction equation to estimate fat mass from the same Tanita bioimpedance analyser, with the four-compartment method as a reference. However, later research found that this equation also failed to outperform the Tanita manufacturer equation, and resulted in wide limits of agreement [12].
Potentially of greater concern to practitioners considering the use of BIA to determine body composition in the applied setting, are the individual error rates of BIA, rather than data on group means. The study mentioned previously on obese subjects [9] reported that in 12 of the 50 participants, BIA underestimated fat mass by 5 kg or more.
This is supported by the findings of Van Marken Lichtenbelt et al. This suggests that BIA may provide data that is not sufficiently accurate for the determination of individual body composition.
The validity of using BIA to measure changes over time A further consideration for the use of BIA is the validity of its use in measuring changes in fat mass and fat-free mass over time, as this may indicate the efficacy of a nutritional or training intervention looking to manipulate body composition.
To revisit the study by Ritz et al. Fat mass was underestimated by 1. Individual error rates were greater than at baseline, with BIA underestimating fat mass by 7. A further study on obese populations [13] showed individual disagreement in body fat measurement between BIA and the four-compartment model was high.
Individual measures of body fat ranged from There are a limited amount of comparisons between BIA and the reference four-compartment model in athletic populations. There is disagreement amongst the limited research available, with only one study suggesting that BIA is suitable for assessing body composition in athletes [15], whereas other research suggests that body fat estimates are much higher in athletes when using the BIA method [16].
The discrepancies between the studies may be due to various issues including differences in methodology, equations, and athletic population.
There are currently no BIA equations for athletes that have been derived from the criterion four-compartment method fat mass, total body water, bone mineral mass, residual mass. This makes the application of BIA in this population difficult, as athletes are likely to possess substantially different quantities of fat and fat-free mass when compared to the general population or diseased populations that current equations are based on.
The reliability of BIA The reliability of BIA the reproducibility of the observed value when the measurement is repeated is also important to determine single-measurement precision, as well as the ability to track changes over time.
A plethora of research has indicated the importance — and potentially the inability — of standardising BIA measures to sufficiently account for various confounders.
The mean coefficient of variation for within-day, intra-individual measurements, has ranged from 0. Standard measurement conditions may vary depending on the machine type e. hand-to-hand, leg-to-leg, supine vs. standing, etc. Other factors which may impact the BIA measurement and should therefore also be standardised are [16]:.
The standardisation of hydration status is clearly of importance for BIA, as the method is reliant on estimations of total body water to ascertain fat-free mass. For female athletes, difference in hydration status during menses may significantly alter impedance [17] and should be a consideration when assessing female athletes with BIA.
Saunders et al. hyperhydrated or hypohydrated , indicating that even small changes in fluid balance that occur with endurance training may be interpreted as a change in body fat content. In addition, eating and strenuous exercise hours prior to assessment have also previously been shown to decrease impedance; ultimately affecting the accuracy of the measurement [19].
The need to standardise eating, exercise, and both acute and chronic hydration changes are clearly important to provide valid body composition estimations. As mentioned previously, there are several issues with BIA measurement that may limit its use in an applied setting.
Methodological limitations of BIA may affect the ability of the method to accurately determine body composition. The primary issues with BIA are:. Sensor Placement One such limitation is the placement of the sensors, and their ability to give readings of total body composition.
As electrical current follows the path of least resistance, some scales may send current through the lower body only, missing the upper body entirely. Similarly, hand-held instruments may only assess the body composition of the upper extremities.
As females typically have a higher proportion of adipose tissue in the gluteal-femoral region [20], it is possible that this would not be represented using hand-held BIA devices. Hand-to-foot BIA devices, however, may allow for greater accuracy, as the current is sent from the upper body to the lower body, and is less likely to be influenced by the distribution of body fat.
Hydration and Glycogen Levels Regardless, all devices are still subject to the same limitations that other BIA devices are.
Deevice enable mezsurement to move around the website measjrement. They do not store any personally Devcie information and enable features such as accessing secure meashrement of the Tips for eating on a budget Performance-optimized diet remembering what is in your shopping cart. They are mandatory for withings. com to operate. They allow us to collect information about how visitors use our website. For instance, we may see the total number of visits, or which pages visitors go to most often. We use this information to make sure our users find the information they are looking for, help monitor website performance indicators and solve potential bugs. Nutrition Impedaance volume 10Article number: 35 Cite this measutement. Metrics measuremenh. Bioelectrical impedance deice BIA is a simple, inexpensive, quick Glucagon hormone synthesis non-invasive BIA impedance measurement device for Belly fat burner goals body composition. The clinical benefit of BIA can be further enhanced by combining it with bioelectrical impedance vector analysis BIVA. This report reflects the authors' practical experience with the use of single-frequency BIA in combination with BIVA, particularly in COPD patients. malnutrition in obese and underweight patients with COPD, water retention is presented.
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