DETECTION OF ANIMAL TISSUE THICKNESS USING SIMPLE VERTICAL ELECTRIC SOUNDING (VES)

Tetrapolar linear arrays are commonly used in geophysics to explore th e vertical distribution of resistivity values in a geological section of a specific point on the earth. This technique, known as vertical el ectric sounding (VES), uses different electrode configurations. For ou r experiments, we utilized its more popular variation, called the Schl umberger arrangement (VES-Sch), to make measurements on a system compo sed of pig backfat placed on a conductive paste that simulates the lon gitudinal resistivity of muscle. The results show that the physical an d mathematical principles involved in VES-Sch are applicable to animal structures such as that composed of skin and fat and that it could be possible, for instance, to determine the thickness of the subcutaneou s fat. This might be useful in studies of body composition and to eval uate nutritional status. In the future, an electrical impedance tomogr aph (EIT) of low frequency could be used to obtain static images using this approach.