Patent ID: 6922586

Claim:
A method for measuring electrical properties of an epithelium, having a surface, using a combination of DC electrical measurements and impedance spectroscopy, comprising the steps of: measuring a DC potential at the surface of the epithelium with a first and a second voltage-measuring electrodes, wherein the voltage-measuring electrodes are associated with a reference point; placing a pair of current-passing electrodes in contact with or in proximity to said epithelium; detecting, via the voltage measuring electrodes, a resulting electrical signal at different points on the epithelial surface; applying an electrical signal to the pair of current-passing electrodes at a plurality of frequencies at said different points on said epithelial surface; monitoring the resulting electrical signal at the voltage-measuring electrodes associated with each of the plurality of frequencies; and determining the impedance of the epithelium associated with the voltage-measuring electrodes based on each of the plurality of frequencies and the resulting electrical signal associated with each of the plurality of frequencies, wherein the reference point includes an intravenous electrode or a skin electrode with low skin impedance.