The Aberdeen Impedance Imaging System.

The Aberdeen Impedance Imaging System is designed to reconstruct 2 dimensional images of the average distribution of the amplitude and phase of the complex impedance within a 3 dimensional region. The system uses the four electrode technique in a 16 electrode split-array. The system hardware consists of task-orientated electronic modules for: driving a constant current, multiplexing the current drive, demultiplexing peripheral voltages, differential amplification, phase sensitive detection and low-pass filtration, digitisation with a 14 bit analog to digital converter (ADC), and -control logic for the ADC and multiplexors. A BBC microprocessor (Master series), initiates a controlled sequence for the collection of a number of data sets which are averaged and stored on disk. Image reconstruction is by a process of convolution-backprojection similar to the fan-beam reconstruction of computerised tomography and is also known as Equipotential Backprojection. In imaging impedance changes associated with fracture healing the changes may be large enough to allow retrieval of both the amplitude and phase of the complex impedance. Sequential imaging of these changes would necessitate monitoring electronic and electrode drift by imaging an equivalent region of the contralateral limb. Differential images could be retrieved when the image of the normal limb is the image template. Better characterisation of tissues would necessitate a cleaner retrieval of the quadrature signal.