Modelling the electrical properties of bladder tissue - quantifying impedance changes due to inflammation and oedema

Electrical impedance spectroscopy has been developed as a potential method for the diagnosis of carcinoma in epithelial tissues. An understanding of the influence of structural changes in the tissue on the properties measured using this technique is essential for interpreting measured data and optimization of probe design. In contrast to other tissue types, carcinoma in situ of the bladder gives rise to an increase in electrical impedance over the kHz-MHz frequency range in comparison to normal tissue. Finite element models of the urothelium and the underlying superficial lamina propria have been constructed and solved in order to ascertain the influence of structural changes associated with malignancy, oedema and inflammation on the measured electrical properties of the tissue. Sensitivity analysis of results from a composite tissue model suggests that the increase in lymphocyte density in the lamina propria associated with an inflammatory response to the infiltration of urine into the tissue may explain these unusual electrical properties.