| How Bioelectric Impedance Analysis Works
 Bioelectrical Impedance (BI) is considered one of the most accurate and accessible methods of screening body fat.It is used in clinician's offices, health clubs and hospitals across a spectrum of ages and body conditions. Muscles, blood vessels and bones are body tissues having a high water content that conduct electricity easily.Body fat is tissue that has little electric conductivity. The Body Fat Analyzer sends an extremely weak electrical current of 50 kHz and 0.5 mA through your body to determine the amount of total body water. The weak electrical current is not felt while operating the Body Fat Analyzer. The body fat percentage is calculated by a formula that uses the measured body water along with five factors; electric resistance, height, weight, age and gender.
The BIA procedure is considered safe because of several factors. One factor is that currents at a frequency of 50 kHz are reported to be unlikely to stimulate electrically excitable tissues, such as nerves or cardiac muscle. Another is the absence of any reports of problematic events induced by BIA, even in the course of thousands of individuals undergoing measurement. A third factor is that relatively small current magnitudes are involved, less than 1 mA, which are less than the threshold of perception. Furthermore, the use of batteries greatly diminishes risks from shock.
Safety Precaution: Bioelectric Impedance Analysis devices pass an extremely weak electrical signal through the body when taking a measurement. This electrical signal is not felt and is safe for individuals without cardiac pacemakers and implanted medical devices. As a precaution, persons with cardiac pacemakers, electrocardiographs and/or other medical devices implanted in the body or used for life support, should not use Bioelectric Impedance Devices.
Accuracy of Bioelectric Impedance Analysis
Not all Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) body fat analyzers are the same! There are many companies producing weight scales and inexpensive handheld devices providing body fat readings through Bioelectric Impedance Analysis. Omron is a leader in this technology and has done extensive University based research and human testing to develop accurate equations and algorithms used in estimating body fat from BIA technology. The accuracy of Omron BIA analyzers have been highly correlated against clinically accurate body fat analysis methods such as hydrodensitometry (under water weighing), Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Omron has used research information from several hundred people tested under the DXA method to develop the calculation methodology by which their BIA products analyze body fat percentages. A cross validation study conducted by the University of Arizona shows that the Omron HBF 400 has a high correlation of accuracy with the industry standard Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) body fat analysis method and was superior to a well known competitor in accuracy.
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