Parametric electrical impedance tomography for monitoring bone mineral density in the spine using 3D human model

Abstract

Monitoring methods of bone mineral density (BMD), the standard measure for osteoporosis diagnosis, are both costly and complex. Since changes in bone permittivity and conductivity values occur due to changes in BMD, they can be used as a simple and inexpensive tool for monitoring BMD. In this work the parametric electrical impedance tomography (pEIT) method for monitoring BMD in the spine using 3D human model is theoretically evaluated. Numerical solver on the forward problem in 3D is used for computing electric potential measured on body surface. Varied spinal BMD are simulated by varying bone relative permittivity and conductivity values which represent different disease stages. The inverse problem is solved by creating a lookup-table of different BMD values.