Variation in Leg Tissue Dielectric Constant Values of Healthy Young Adult Females With and Without Compression Bandaging.

Abstract

Background The clinical efficacy of a compression application has been often limited to the assessment of the change in limb volume, change in clinical symptoms (i.e., wound size, pain, range of motion, incidence of cellulitis), or vascular hemodynamics of the whole limb. Assessing compression-related biophysical changes of a localized area, such as around a wound, or in an area outside of an extremity cannot be objectively assessed by these measurements. Tissue dielectric constant (TDC) values, which provide a measure of the local tissue water (LTW) content, offer an alternative method to document variation in the LTW content of the skin in a specific location. The goals of the present research were (1) to characterize TDC values, expressed as percentage tissue water, from multiple areas along the medial aspect of the lower leg of healthy volunteers and (2) to explore the potential utilization of the TDC values to assess change in tissue water content in a localized area following compression applications. Methods TDC was measured at 10, 20, 30, and 40 cm proximal to the medial malleolus on the medial aspect of the right leg of 18 young adult healthy women with an age range of 18-23 years and a body mass index of 18.7 to 30.7kg/