Bioimpedance Spectroscopy—Niche Applications in Medicine: Systematic Review

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) consists in measuring the total resultant electrical resistance of the body, which is a derivative of the resistance and reactance, by using a set of surface electrodes, connected to a computer analyzer and using a current of a given frequency and intensity. Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) is an extension of BIA method that involves measuring the impedance of the test object over a range of frequencies. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate prevalence of bioelectrical spectroscopy in medicine, especially (a) for measuring blood glucose level (b) classification of pulmonary nodules (c) detection and estimation of lymphedema and breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL). We focus on finding a new area of activity, where we can use BIS and BIA, which is a critical aspect in the context of rapidly developing medicines. A systematic research on electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane) from inception to January 2018 was performed according using PICO strategy. The quality of the publication (clinical trials) was evaluated by using Jadad checklist. Through the initial literature search and after removing duplicates and excluding papers by screening titles and abstracts, 140 potentially relevant studies were examined. Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The review confirmed that BIA and BIS are used as a tool to assist in the diagnosis of patients to a very limited extent. In addition, it is worth mentioning the lack of clinical reviews based on the application of machine learning or deep learning to narrow pathologies.