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. 2022 Oct 21;9(10):592.
doi: 10.3390/bioengineering9100592.

Impact of Age and Sex on Electrical Impedance Values in Healthy Oral Mucosa

Kristina Horvat  1 , Ivica Richter  1 , Vesna Vucelić  2 , Krešimir Gršić  3 , Dinko Leović  3 , Ivana Škrinjar  1   4 , Ana Andabak Rogulj  1   4 , Marko Velimir Grgić  5 , Vlaho Brailo  1   4
Affiliations

Impact of Age and Sex on Electrical Impedance Values in Healthy Oral Mucosa

Kristina Horvat et al. Bioengineering (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Electrical impedance (EI) is a property of all living tissues and represents the resistance to the electric current flow through a living tissue. EI depends on the structure and chemical composition of the tissue. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of age, sex, and electrode pressure on the EI values of healthy oral mucosa. The study involved 101 participants with healthy oral mucosa who were divided into three age groups. EI was measured in seven anatomical regions.

Results: Significant differences between different age groups were found. Younger participants (20-40 years) had significantly higher EI values than the older participants (60+). Significantly higher EI values were found in women at all localisations at all measured frequencies, except on the hard palate. EI values measured with higher sub-pressure were significantly lower than values measured with lower sub-pressure at all frequencies and localisations, except the tongue dorsum, tongue border, and sublingual mucosa.

Conclusions: This study found that EI values in healthy oral mucosa depend on age and sex and may also depend on the pressure of the measuring device. These factors should be kept in mind when EI is used as a diagnostic method for different oral lesions.

Keywords: diagnostics; electrical impedance; healthy mucosa; sub pressure; variability.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Intraoral probe consisting of 3 concentric aluminium alloy electrodes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Electrical impedance measurements in three different age groups (bars represent mean ± standard deviation).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Electrical impedance measurements in males and females (bars representing mean ± standard deviation).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Electrical impedance measurements with different sub-pressures (bars representing mean ± standard deviation).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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