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Potential distribution in the thorax in relation to electrical field plethysmography

  • Physiological Measurement
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Abstract

A two-dimensional model of the thorax has been analysed to study the electrical potential distributions under various physiological conditions in relation to electrical field plethysmography. The quasi-harmonic equation has been solved over a cross-section of the thorax with the help of a finite-element method under the assumptions of homogeneous and isotropic tissue characteristics. Potentials along the boundary of the model have been plotted and the optimum electrode locations derived from the analysis corresponded well with the experimentally obtained positions. It is concluded that cardiac activity can be monitored effectively in the presence of lung activity. It has also been found that, with a suitable modification of the positions of the pick-up electrodes, lung activity can also be monitored. The equipotential lines drawn and the current densities computed have provided a picture of the field distribution pattern in the thoracic model. The analysis showed that the technique fulfils the preliminary requirements of a plethysmographic tool.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, 110 016, New Delhi, India

    B. Bhattacharya & S. N. Tandon

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  1. B. Bhattacharya
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  2. S. N. Tandon
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Bhattacharya, B., Tandon, S.N. Potential distribution in the thorax in relation to electrical field plethysmography. Med. Biol. Eng. Comput. 26, 303–309 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447085

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02447085

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