Short Communication A Portable Apparatus for Monitoring Leg Swelling by Bioelectrical Impedance Measurement

Measurement of leg swelling is widely used for the evaluation of the load in standing work. Measuring the leg circumference with a tape measure and the leg volume in a water tank were methods often used to measure the level of leg swelling1). These methods, however, were not suitable to apply to field studies because they take time and require support staff when taking measurements. We studied the bioelectrical impedance measuring method and found it much more sensitive than the leg circumference and leg volume measuring methods2). This method was considered to be useful for field studies because it measures leg volume electrically and can therefore measure automatically without disturbing work. For this purpose, we developed a new portable apparatus to monitor leg swelling by an impedance method. In this paper, we giv