In vivo measurement of intra- and extracellular space of brain tissue by electrical impedance method.

An impedance method was applied to evaluate transcellular fluid shifts in ischaemic brain oedema. The admittances (apparent electrical conductivities) of tissues were measured at varied frequencies based on a simple model of an electrical equivalent circuit for tissues, which consisted of Re (resistivity of extracellular fluid), Ri (resistivity of intracellular fluid) and Cm (capacitance of cell membrane). Calculated were Re, Ri, Rinf (resistivity of total fluid), Re/Ri and alpha (Cole-Cole distribution index) of brain tissue by Cole-Cole an arc of a circle. During ischaemia induced by cat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), the parameters were examined continuously. After MCAO, cerebral blood flow (CBF) decreased to under 10 ml/100 g/min. Then Re and Re/Ri increased, but Ri decreased. These results indicated that fluid shift from extracellular (EC) to intracellular (IC) space occurred after ischaemic insult. Rinf showed no changes during ischaemia of 30 min, which demonstrated no changes of total fluid volume. Using this impedance technique, fluid accumulation and shift may be examined by changes of Re, Ri, Re/Ri and Rinf in various types of brain oedema in vivo.