What is Measured What to Look For How to Best Utilize Definitions resistance - resistance to the flow of an electrical current.
Lean tissue is highly conductive due to high fluid and electrolyte content.
Fat tissue and bone are poor conductors, having low fluid and electrolytes. A high phase angle is consistent with high reactances and large quantities of intact cell membranes and body cell mass. An electrical current is passed between the electrodes - this current is not felt by the patient and leaves no effect on the body. The path the electrical current takes through the body is then measured, producing the body's resistance to the electrical current and the body's reactance. Since water is the conducting medium, a person needs to be euvolemic.