A bioelectrical impedance phase angle measuring system for assessment of nutritional status.

Bioelectrical impedance phase angle has been recommended as a tool to assess nutrition state, but there are no measuring devices have been specially designed for hospital residents. In this study, a system was established for the measurement of bioelectrical impedance phase angle. The electrical composition, calculation method and measuring method of this system are presented in this paper. Experiments showed excellent performance of this system in measuring impedance made of resistors and capacitors. The designed system was also used to measure the bioelectrical impedance phase angle of both healthy subjects and patients with malnutrition, and the results demonstrated that the phase angle of patients with malnutrition is lower than that of healthy subjects (P < 0.01 for male and P < 0.05 for female). These results suggest that phase angle has the potential to be a useful tool for the quantitative assessment of nutritional status.