10th

10th IFAC
IFAC Symposium
Symposium on on Biological
Biological and
and Medical
Medical Systems
Systems
10th
São IFAC Symposium on Biological and Medical Systems
São Paulo,
10th Paulo, Brazil,
Brazil, September
IFAC Symposium September 3-5,
3-5, 2018
on Biological and
2018 Medical
Available Systems
online at www.sciencedirect.com
São Paulo,
10th Paulo, Brazil,
IFAC Symposium September 3-5, 2018
on Biological and Medical Systems
São Brazil, September 3-5, 2018
São Paulo, Brazil, September 3-5, 2018
ScienceDirect
IFAC PapersOnLine 51-27 (2018) 41–46
A
A New
New 2D
2D Dual
Dual Layered
Layered Electrode
Electrode Model
Model
A
A New
New 2D
2D Dual
Dual Layered
Layered Electrode
Electrode Model
Model
for
A
for the Electrical
New
the Electrical
2D Dual Impedance
Layered
Impedance Tomography
Electrode Model
Tomography
for
for the
the Electrical
Electrical Impedance
Impedance Tomography
Tomography
for the
André Electrical
K. Sato ∗,1 Impedance ∗,2 Tomography ∗,3
∗,1 André Bianchessi ∗,2 Thiago C. Martins ∗,3
André
André K. Sato ∗,1 André Bianchessi ∗,2 Thiago C. Martins ∗,3
André K. Sato ∗,1 André
Lima ∗,4 ∗,4Bianchessi G.Thiago C. Martins
∗,5
Raul
K.RaulSatoG. G. André
Lima Marcos S.
∗,4Bianchessi
Marcos S.∗,2G. Tsuzuki
Thiago
Tsuzuki C.∗,5 Martins ∗,3
∗,5
André K.Raul SatoG.
Raul
∗,1 Lima
G. André
Lima ∗,4 Marcos
Marcos S.
Bianchessi S. G.
∗,2
G.ThiagoTsuzuki
Tsuzuki C.∗,5 Martins ∗,3
∗,4 ∗,5
∗ Av. Raul
Prof. G. Lima Marcos S. G. Tsuzuki
∗
Mello Moraes, 2231 - São
∗ Av. Prof. Mello Moraes, 2231 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
Paulo - SP - Brazil
∗ Av. Prof.Computational
Mello Moraes, 2231 -- São Paulo -- SP
Av. Prof. Mello Moraes,
Computational Geometry
2231
Geometry São Laboratory
Paulo
Laboratory SP -- Brazil
Brazil
∗
Av.
Department Prof.
of Computational
Mello
MechatronicsMoraes,
Computational Geometry
2231
and - São
Mechanical
Geometry Laboratory
Paulo
LaboratorySystems - SP - Brazil
Engineering
Department
Department of
of Mechatronics
Mechatronics and
and Mechanical
Mechanical Systems
Systems Engineering
Engineering
Department Escola
Escola Computational
Politécnica da
of Mechatronics
Politécnica daandGeometry
Universidade
Mechanicalde
Universidade Laboratory
deSystems
São Paulo
São PauloEngineering
Department Escola
Escola Politécnica
Politécnica da
of Mechatronics daandUniversidade
Mechanicalde
Universidade São
São Paulo
deSystems PauloEngineering
Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo
Abstract:
Abstract: The
The electrical
electrical impedance
impedance tomography
tomography (EIT)
(EIT) is
is aa medical imaging modality in which
aAbstract:
current
Abstract: isThe
The electrical
applied to
electrical theimpedance
body
impedance tomography
through electrodes
tomography (EIT)
(EIT) and is
is aa medical
medical
potential
medical
imaging
imaging
measurements
imaging
modality
modality
modality are
in
in
taken
in
which
which
whichat
aa current
current is
is applied
applied to
to the
the body
body through
through electrodes
electrodes and
and potential
potential measurements
measurements are
are taken
taken at
at
Abstract:
discrete
a currentpoints
discrete The
points in
is applied
inelectrical
the
the to impedance
surface.
the body
surface. It
It is
is tomography
capable
through
capable of imaging
electrodes
of imaging(EIT) is
objects a
and potential
objects medical
interior
interior imaging
with
measurements
with a
a modality
portable
portable are in
equipment
taken
equipment whichat
discrete
a
and current
does
discrete points
is
not
points in
applied the
involve
in the surface.
to the
radiation.
surface. It
body
It is
In
is capable
through
order
capable of
to
of imaging
electrodes
reconstruct
imaging objects
and the
objects interior
potential
image
interior with
measurements
from
with a
the
a portable are
measurements,
portable equipment
taken
equipment at
an
and
and does
does not
not involve
involve radiation.
radiation. In
In order
order to
to reconstruct
reconstruct the
the image
image from
from the
the measurements,
measurements, an
an
discrete
ill-posed
and does
ill-posed points
inverse
not in the
problem
involve
inverse problem surface.
needs
radiation.
needs It is
toIncapable
be
to be solved.
order
solved. of
to imaging
Due to
reconstruct
Due to its
itsobjects
the interior
characteristics,
image
characteristics, it with
from it is a
the
is a portable
challenge
measurements,
aa challenge equipment
to
to obtain
obtainan
ill-posed
and
the doesinverse
static
ill-posed not problem
involve
conductivity
inverse problem needs
needs to
radiation.
distributiontoInbe solved.
beorder
image
solved.toof Due
the
Due to
reconstructits
its characteristics,
tobody. the image
The electrode
characteristics, from it is
isthea challenge
itmodeling measurements,
is
challenge to
to obtain
particularlyobtainan
the
the static
static conductivity
conductivity distribution
distribution image
image of
of the
the body.
body. The
The electrode
electrode modeling
modeling is
is particularly
particularly
ill-posed
difficulty inverse
as it
the staticasconductivity
difficulty it problem
needs
needs to needs
faithfully
distribution
to faithfully to be
simulatesolved.
the
imagethe
simulate Due to
contact
ofcontact
the body.its characteristics,
impedance
The electrode
impedance between
between it is
the a
modeling
the challenge
metal
metal and
isand tothe
particularly
the obtain
skin.
skin.
difficulty
the staticas
Moreover,
difficulty init needs
needs to
asconductivity
itpractical to faithfully
distribution
applications,
faithfully simulate
aimage
simulate gel the
may
the ofcontact
the
be body. impedance
applied,
contact The
impedancecreating between
electrode aa new
between the
modeling metal
metalisand
transport
the and the
particularly
layer. skin.
theThus,
skin.
Moreover,
Moreover, in
in practical
practical applications,
applications, a
a gel
gel may
may be
be applied,
applied, creating
creating a new
new transport
transport layer.
layer. Thus,
Thus,
difficulty
in this
Moreover,
in this as
work,
work, inita needs
new
practical
aa new to
FEM
FEM faithfully
electrode
applications,
electrode simulate
model
a gel
model theis
may
is contact
proposed
be impedance
applied,
proposed to
to more
creating
more between
adequate
adequate a new the metal
represent
transport
represent and
the
thelayer. the skin.
practical
Thus,
practical
in this
Moreover,
application.
in this work,
work, in Ita new
practical FEM
consists
new FEM of electrode
applications,
two
electrodelayers,model
a gel
modelone is
may
is proposed
be applied,
simulating
proposed to
the
to more
creating
more adequate
metal-body
adequate a new represent
transport
contact
represent and the
thelayer.
the practical
Thus,
second
practical
application.
application. It consists of two layers, one simulating the metal-body contact and the second
in this work, It
representing
application.
representing the
It
the
consists
a new gel FEM
consists
gel
of
layer.
two
ofelectrode
layer. Tests
two
Tests
layers,
layers,model
were
were
one
one issimulating
conductedproposed
simulating
conducted with
with
the
to
the more
two
two
metal-body
adequate
sets
metal-body
sets of
of data:
data:
contact
represent
contactone
one
and
andthe
from
from
the
the second
aa practical
physical
second
physical
representing
application.
phantom
representing the
It
experiment
the gel
consists
gel layer.
of
and
layer. Tests
two
another
Tests were
layers,
werefrom conducted
one an simulating
conducted in vivowith
with thetwo
experiment.
two sets
metal-body
sets of
of data:
Results
data: contactone
show
one from
and
fromthe a
the
a physical
second
difference
physical
phantom
phantom experiment
experiment and
and another
another from
from an
an in
in vivo
vivo experiment.
experiment. Results
Results show
show the
the difference
difference
representing
between
phantom
between models.the
experiment gel
models. However, layer.
However,and Tests
the
another
the were
methods from
methods must conducted
must
an inbevivowith
improved
be improved two
experiment. in
insets
order of
order to data:
to
Results obtainone
show
obtain more from
morethe a physical
conclusive
difference
conclusive
between
between models.
phantom
observations. experiment
models. However,
However, the
the methods
and another methods from must an inbe
must improved
bevivo
improvedexperiment. in
in order
order to
to obtain
Results obtain showmore
morethe conclusive
difference
conclusive
observations.
observations.
between
observations. models. However, the methods must be improved in order to obtain more conclusive
© 2018, IFAC
observations.
Keywords: (International
Medical Imaging, Federation
Electrical of Automatic
Impedance Control) Hosting byFinite
Tomography, Elsevier Ltd. AllModel.
Element rights reserved.
Keywords:
Keywords: Medical
Medical Imaging,
Imaging, Electrical
Electrical Impedance
Impedance Tomography,
Tomography, Finite
Finite Element
Element Model.
Model.
Keywords: Medical Imaging, Electrical Impedance Tomography, Finite Element Model.
Keywords: Medical Imaging, Electrical Impedanceis Tomography,
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION adopted and and the Finite
the Element
solution Model. by the use of form
is simplified
simplified
1.
1. is adopted solution is by the use of form
1. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION is adopted
adopted and
functions.
is
functions. and the the solution
solution is is simplified
simplified by by the
the use
use ofof form
form
1. INTRODUCTION functions.
is adopted and the solution is simplified by the use of form
functions.
Electrical impedance
Electrical impedance tomography
impedance tomography
tomography (EIT) (EIT) achieves
(EIT) achieves
achieves non non in-
non in- The The mesh mesh is is composed
composed of of triangular
triangular elements elements with with homo-
homo-
Electrical
vasive and
vasive andimpedance
Electrical non destructive
non destructive imaging(EIT)
tomography
imaging of objects
of objects
achieves non in-
interior
interior by functions.
in-
by The
geneous
The mesh
mesh is composed
conductivity.
is composed of
The
of triangular
electrodes,
triangular elements
which
elements with
are
with homo-
located
homo-
vasive and non geneous conductivity. The electrodes, which are located
Electrical
estimating
vasive
estimating non destructive
andimpedance
their
their electrical
destructive
electrical
imaging
tomography
imaging(EIT)
conductivity
conductivity
of objects
achieves
of distribution.
objects
distribution.
interior
non
interior A
A
by
in-
by geneous
low
low The
along
geneous
along mesh
the
the
conductivity.
is composed
surface,
conductivity.
surface, are
are
The
of
physically
The
physically
electrodes,
triangular
electrodes,different
different
which
elements
whichfrom
from
are
with
arethe
the
located
homo-
body
located
body
estimating
amplitude
estimating their
vasive and their
current electrical
non destructive
pattern
electrical conductivity
imaging
is applied
conductivity distribution.
of distribution.
objects
to the interior
object A low
A sur-by along
low geneous the surface,
conductivity. are physically
The electrodes,different whichfrom arethe body
located
amplitude
amplitude current
current pattern
pattern is
is applied
applied to
to the
the object
object sur-
sur- and
along
and must
the
must be
be modeled
surface,
modeled are accordingly.
physically
accordingly. The
different
The electrode
from
electrode the model
body
model
estimating
face and
amplitude
face and their
potential
current
potential electrical
pattern conductivity
measurements
measurements is are
applied
are distribution.
taken
to
taken the at
at object A
electrodes,
electrodes, low
sur- and
along
proposed must
the inbe modeled
surface,
Tavares are et accordingly.
physically
al. (2014) uses The
different a electrode
from
single the
layer model
body
with
face and and
proposed must inbe modeled
Tavares et accordingly.
al. (2014) uses The a electrode
single layer model
with
amplitude
placed
face
placed atpotential
andat current points
specific
potential
specific
measurements
pattern
points of is
measurements
of the
are
are taken
theapplied
surface.
surface. toThe
taken the
The at electrodes,
object
process
atprocess
electrodes,sur-
can proposed
can and must
homogeneous
proposed in
inbe Tavares
modeled
conductivity
Tavares et
et al. (2014)
accordingly.
al. with
(2014) uses
variable
uses The a
a single
electrode layer
discretization
single layer with
model
and
with
placed
face
also and
beat specific
potential
inverted. points
i.e., theof
measurements the surface.
potential are taken
is The at
applied process
electrodes,
and can
the homogeneous
homogeneous conductivity
conductivity with
with variable
variable discretization
discretization and
and
placed
also beatinverted.
specific points
i.e., theof potential
the surface. is The process
applied and can
the proposed
is simplified
homogeneous
is simplified in Tavares
by adopting
conductivity
by adoptinget al. (2014)
constant
with
constant uses
variable a
potential
potential singlein layer
the
discretization
in the with
outer
and
outer
also
placed
surface
also be
beat inverted.
specific
current
inverted. is i.e.,
points
measured
i.e., the
theof potential
the surface.
(Martins
potential is
et
is applied
The
al.,
applied 2012, and
process
and the
can
2014;
the is simplified
homogeneous by adopting
conductivity constant
with variable potential in the
discretization outer
and
surface
surface current
current is
is measured
measured (Martins
(Martins et
et al.,
al., 2012,
2012, 2014;
2014; surface.
is simplified
surface. Silva
Silva byet
et al.
al. (2017)
adopting
(2017) proposed
constant
proposed a very
potential
aa very refined
in
refinedthe model
outer
model
also
Martins
surfacebe inverted.
and
current
Martins and Tsuzuki,
and Tsuzuki,is i.e.,
measured
Tsuzuki, 2013, the
2013, potential
2015,
(Martins
2013, 2015, 2017; 2017; is
et applied
Silva
al.,
2017; Silva et et
2012, and
al.,
et al., the
2017;
2014;
al., 2017; surface.
is
for
2017; surface. simplified
the Silva
electrode byet al. (2017)
adopting
called proposed
constant
patacon, and very
potential
it was refined
in
used the
to model
outer
solve
Martins for the Silva et al.
electrode (2017)
called proposed
patacon, and aitverywas refined
used tomodel
solve
surface current
Tavares
Martins
Tavares et
and
et al., 2017).
al.,Tsuzuki,
2017). 2013, 2015,
is measured (Martins
2015, 2017;etSilvaal., et
Silva 2012,al., 2014;
2017; for the
for
the
the
surface. electrode
forward
the Silvaproblem.
electrode
forward et al.
problem.
called
(2017)
called patacon,
proposed
patacon, and
andait was
itvery used
used to
was refined solve
tomodel
solve
Tavares
Martins et
Tavares et
andal.,
al., 2017).
Tsuzuki,
2017). 2013, 2015, 2017; Silva et al., 2017; the for forward
the electrode problem. called patacon, and it was used to solve
In
In order
orderetto
Tavares to use
toal., EIT
use2017).
EIT for for medical
for medical imaging,
medical imaging,
imaging, the the
the bodybody
body can can
can The the forward
quality problem.
of the EIT inverse problem solution using
In
be order
modeled use
by EIT
the elliptical partial differential equation The
the
The quality
forward
quality of
problem.
of the
the EIT
EIT inverse
inverse problem
problem solution
solution using
using
In
be order
modeled to use
by the EITelliptical
the for medical partialimaging, the body
differential equation can The FEMquality depends of mainly
the EIT upon two
inverse model
problem factors:
solution the dis-
using
be
be modeled
In order
derived from
modeled
derived from
by
to use
by EITelliptical
Maxwell’s
the
Maxwell’s forequation.
medical
elliptical
equation.
partial
partial
The
differential
imaging,
The objectivethe of
differential
objective of
equation
body
obtain-
equation
obtain-can FEM FEM
The
tribution
depends
depends
quality of of
the
mainly
mainly
the EIT
triangular
upon
upon two
two
inverse
elements
model
model
problem
in the
factors:
factors:
solution
interior
the
the
and
dis-
dis-
using
the
derived
be from
modeled Maxwell’s
by the equation.
elliptical The
partial objective
differential of obtain-
equation FEM
tribution depends of the mainly
triangular upon two
elements model
in the factors:
interior the
and dis-
the
ing
ing the
derived
the conductivity
from Maxwell’s
conductivity distribution
equation.
distribution is
The
is an
an ill-posed
objective
ill-posed nonlinear
of obtain-
nonlinear tribution
FEM
electrode
tribution depends of the
model.
of the triangular
mainly
In this
triangular upon
work,elements
two
we
elements in
model
concentrate
in the
the interior
factors:
on
interior and
the
the
and the
dis-
latter
the
ing the
derived
inverse conductivity
from
problem. Maxwell’s
It is distribution
equation.
difficult to is
The
solve,an ill-posed
objective
as small nonlinear
of obtain-
changes in electrode
electrode model.
model. In
In this
this work,
work, we
we concentrate
concentrate on
on the
the latter
latter
ing the
inverse conductivity
problem. It is distribution
difficult to is
solve,an ill-posed
as small nonlinear
changes in tribution
aspect:
electrode
aspect: an
an of the
electrode
model.
electrodetriangular
In this model
work,
model elements
with
we
with twoin
concentrate
two the interior
layers
layers is
on
is and
proposed
the the
latter
proposed
inverse
ing the
the problem.
conductivity
conductive
inverse problem. It
It is difficult
is distribution
distribution to
to solve,
difficultproduce is anlow
solve, as
as small
ill-posed
variation
small changes
nonlinear
changesin in
in aspect:
the electrode an electrode
model. In this model
work, with
we two
concentrate layers is
on proposed
the latter
the conductive distribution produce low variation in the to more
aspect: anaccurately
electrode simulate
model the
with interaction
two layers between
is proposed the
the conductive
inverse
potential
the
potential problem. distribution
It is difficultproduce
measurements.
conductive distribution
measurements. to solve,low
produce low variation
as small
variationchangesin
in the in to
the to more
more
aspect:
electrode an
accurately
accurately
and electrode
the body.
simulate
simulate
model
The
the
the
with
paper
interaction
interaction
two
is structured
between the
layers between
is as
proposed the
follows.
potential measurements.
the conductive distribution produce low variation in the electrode to more
electrode accurately
and the body.simulate
The the
paper interaction
is structured between
as the
follows.
potential measurements. to more
Section
electrode 2 and
accuratelythe
formulates
and the body.
body. theThe
simulate
The EITpaper
the
paper forwardis
is structured
interaction problem
structured as
between
as follows.
which the
follows. is
A
A solution for the
solutionmeasurements.
potential for the EIT
the EIT
EIT can can
can be be obtained
be obtained
obtained by by comparing
by comparing
comparing the the
the Section
Section 22 formulates
formulates the
the EIT
EIT forward
forward problem
problem which
which is
is
A solution
measured for
data with simulated results from the forward electrode
solved
Section
solved using
2
usingand the
formulates
the body.
FEM.
FEM. theThe Its
EIT
Its paper
solution
forward
solution is structured
is
is then
problem
then as follows.
applied
which
applied to
is
to
A solution
measured for
data the EIT
with can
simulatedbe obtained
results by
from comparing
the forward the solved using the FEM. Its solution is then applied to
measured
A solution
problems. data
for
The thewith
EIT
finite simulated
can
element be results
obtained
method from
by
(FEM) the
comparing
is a forward
popular the Section
solve
solved
solve the
the 2
using formulates
inverse
inversethe problem,
FEM.
problem,the EIT
Its as
as forward
detailed
solution
detailed is problem
in
in Section
then
Section which
3.
applied
3. The
The is
to
measured
problems. The data
The finitewith simulated
finite element
element method results
method (FEM) from
(FEM) is the forward
is aa popular
popular solve solved theusing inversethe problem,
FEM. Its as detailed
solution is in Section
then 3.
applied Theto
problems.
measured
tool for data
for solving
solving with simulated
the forward
forward results
problem. In from
the FEM,the
FEM, forward new
solve dual
the layer
inverse electrode
problem, model
as is
detailed proposed in in
Section Section
3. The 4
problems.
tool
tool for
The finite
solving the
the
elementproblem.
forward
method In
problem. In
(FEM)
the
the FEM, aa mesh
is a popular
a
mesh new
mesh new
solve
and
dual
dual layer
layer
the inverse
preliminary
electrode
electrode
problem,
results are
model
model
asshown
is
is
detailed
shown
proposed
proposed
in Section
in
in
in Section 5.
Section
Section
3. The4
Finally,
4
problems. The finite element method (FEM)
tool for solving the forward problem. In the FEM, a mesh and is a popular new
and dual
preliminarylayer electrode
results aremodel is proposed
in Section in 5.Section
Finally, 4
tool for solving the forward problem. In the FEM, a mesh new preliminary
dual layer
conclusions
and preliminary are results
electrode
drawn
resultsin aremodelshown
Section
are shown is6. in
in Section
proposed Sectionin5. Finally,
5.Section
Finally,4
conclusions
conclusions are
are drawn in Section 6.
1 e-mail: andre.kubagawa@usp.br.
1 e-mail: andre.kubagawa@usp.br.
and preliminary
conclusions are drawn resultsin
drawn in areSection
shown
Section 6.
6. in Section 5. Finally,
1
2 e-mail:
2 e-mail:
1 andre.kubagawa@usp.br.
andrebianchessi@googlemail.com. 2.
conclusions
2. EIT
EIT FORWARD
are
FORWARD drawn in PROBLEM
Section
PROBLEM 6. FORMULATION
FORMULATION
2 e-mail: andre.kubagawa@usp.br.
e-mail:
3 e-mail:
1
andrebianchessi@googlemail.com.
andrebianchessi@googlemail.com. 2.
2. EIT
EIT FORWARD
FORWARD PROBLEM
PROBLEM FORMULATION
FORMULATION
2 thiago@usp.br.
andre.kubagawa@usp.br.
3 e-mail: andrebianchessi@googlemail.com.
thiago@usp.br.
3
4 e-mail:
2
3
4 e-mail: thiago@usp.br.
e-mail: thiago@usp.br.
limaraul@gmail.com.
andrebianchessi@googlemail.com. The
The 2. EIT
inverse
inverse FORWARD
problem
problem can
can PROBLEM
be
be stated
stated FORMULATION
as aa current
as current J J isis in-
in-
limaraul@gmail.com. The inverse problem can be stated
stated as aa current J
J isis in-
4
5 e-mail: limaraul@gmail.com.
3
4
5 e-mail: mtsuzuki@usp.br.
thiago@usp.br. jected
The inverse
jected through
through the
problem
the boundary electrodes
can be electrodes
boundary as andand the
current
the potentials
potentials in-
5 e-mail: limaraul@gmail.com.
mtsuzuki@usp.br.
jected through the
5 e-mail:
4 e-mail: mtsuzuki@usp.br.
e-mail: limaraul@gmail.com.
mtsuzuki@usp.br. The inverse
jected through the boundary
problem can be electrodes
boundary stated as and
electrodes and the
the potentials
a current J is in-
potentials
5 e-mail: mtsuzuki@usp.br.
2405-8963 ©
Copyright © 2018, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control)
2018 IFAC
jected through the boundary electrodes and the potentials
41 Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright
Peer review© 2018 responsibility
IFAC 41 Control.
Copyright ©under
2018 IFAC of International Federation of Automatic
41
Copyright © 2018 IFAC
10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.11.605 41
Copyright © 2018 IFAC 41
IFAC BMS 2018
42
São Paulo, Brazil, September 3-5, 2018 André K. Sato et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-27 (2018) 41–46

c M N O P p
b
y
a b c d a b c d
x a
Fig. 2. Single layer electrode model.
Fig. 1. Generic triangular element.
the conductivity matrix elements for a generic triangular
φm are measured with the objective of determining the element is given by
conductivity distribution σ inside the body. In the forward
b i bj + c i c j
problem, the conductivities σ are known, and the goal is kij = σe . (7)
to determine the potentials φm at the electrodes given the 4∆e
current J.
2.3 Single layer electrode model
As the frequencies used in EIT are low, the capacitive and
inductive effects may be ignored. Then, the EIT can be
represented by the Laplace equation The electrode model proposed in (Tavares et al., 2014)
consists of a rectangular layer in which the top edge
∇ · (σ∇φ) = 0. (1) represents a metal plate. The layer impedance simulates
The boundary condition is determined at each electrode the interface between the electrode and the object, which
by the injected current. Thus, for the l-th electrode, the is usually the body. In the contact between the body and
current density flowing through is given by the electrode, the current is transfered by changing the
∂φ electron flow in the metal to an ion flow (Kolehmainen
σ = Jl (2)
∂ n̂ et al., 2008). Assuming that the current flows according to
where n̂ represents the unit normal. parallel lines, perpendicular to the body, the rectangular
layer can be assumed to have uniform conductivity.
2.1 Finite element model
Figure 2 shows an example of the electrode model which
Analytical solution for the forward problem, given by (1) can be decomposed into three rectangular modules. Noting
and (2), is not known, given an irregular domain and that the metal plate has a very high conductivity, the
isotropic media. Therefore, an approximate solution is potentials at the top nodes can be considered equal. Thus,
obtained by using the FEM to solve the partial differential the model can be simplified using a single node to represent
equation. Triangular elements with constant conductivity the top edge, as shown in Fig 2, where the position of the
are used to discretize the domain, forming a mesh. De- node p is not important. The leftmost rectangular module
riving the FEM formulation for the EIT forward prob- of the example, consisting of two triangular elements,
lem is similar to the regular Poisson equation and it can defines the following linear system
    
be achieved by a variational formulation or the Garlekin kM M kM N kM a kM b φM JM
method. The resulting formulation is a linear system given  kN M kN N kN A kN b   φ N   JN 
k φ  = J . (8)
by aM kaN kaa kab a a
K(σ) · Φ = C (3) kbM kbN kba kbb φb Jb
where K(σ) ∈ Rs×s is the conductivity matrix calculated As demonstrated by Tavares et al. (2014), the simplified
given the conductivity distribution σ and s is the number linear system is given by
of mesh nodes. The vector φ and C contains s elements     
kpp kpa kpb φp JM + JN
corresponding to nodal potentials and nodal currents, kap kaa kab φa = Ja (9)
respectively. kbp kba kbb φb Jb
2.2 Conductivity matrix for linear triangular element where kpp = kM M + 2kM N + kN N , kpa = kM a and
kpb = kM b + kN b .
Each element contribution to the conductivity matrix
can be mapped into a local element matrix. Consider 2.4 Current patterns
the generic triangular element shown in Fig. 1, its local
element matrix Ke is given by the local linear system
     In the forward problem, the conductivity distribution and
kaa kab kac φa Ja the injected currents are known. The current is injected
Ke · φ = C =⇒ kba kbb kbc φb = Jb (4) through a pair of electrodes and the voltage is measured
kca kcb kcc φc Jc at all other electrodes. Several current patterns were
where each element k is derived using the FEM. Thus proposed in literature, including, but not limited to, the

adjacent electrode pair method (Brown and Seagar, 1987)
kij = σe (∇Ψei · ∇Ψej )dS (5) and the cross method (Hua et al., 1988).
Ω
where Ψi is a shape function. Consider ∆e the area of Therefore, in the FEM formulation, the current C in (3)
element e. First order interpolation is adopted, and the can be represented as a matrix whose columns corresponds
shape functions can be defined as to different current injections. The only non-zero values
a i + bi x + c i y in C corresponds to the nodes in the input and output
Ψei = . (6) electrodes.
2∆e

42
 IFAC BMS 2018
São Paulo, Brazil, September 3-5, 2018 André K. Sato et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-27 (2018) 41–46 43

M N O P M N M M N
E4 E3
a b c d ... h/2
a b a b b
h/2
a a b
i j k l i j
E1 E2
Fig. 3. Dual layer electrode model. l i j j
(a) (b)

3. EIT AS AN OPTIMIZATION PROBLEM Fig. 4. Dual layer electrode element (a) geometry and (b)
decomposition into four sub-elements.
       
There are different forms of EIT imaging. Dynamic imag- φi Ji φj Jj
ing consists of determining the conductivity changes be- K1 φ j = Jj , K 2 φ b = Jb (11)
tween two instants of time (Barber and Brown, 1984), φa Ja φa Ja
whereas static imaging aims to reconstruct the static        
φb Jb φa Ja
conductivity of the body. Frequency-difference EIT de- K3 φ N = J N , K 4 φ b = J b (12)
termines the conductivity changes at different frequencies φM JM φM JM
and is effective in identifying anomalies. In this work,
where K1 , K2 , K3 and K4 are the local conductivity
the objective is to obtain the static reconstruction, which
matrices for elements E1, E2, E3 and E4, respectively.
requires a more advanced numerical approach.
Using (7) and the dimensions given in Fig. 4a, the conduc-
The forward problem can be efficiently solved using the
tivity matrices for the elements on the bottom layer are
FEM. Nevertheless, solving the EIT inverse problem is
given by
of more interest, as it can be applied to medical static  2   l 
2h + 4l −h −l −l
imaging reconstruction. A possible solution is to formulate 0
the EIT as an optimization problem whose cost function is  4hl 4l h  h h 
K1   K  
evaluated by solving the forward problem. The variables  −h h  2  −l h + 4l2 −h 
2
= 0 , =  (13)
are the node conductivities and, in order to obtain the σ1  4l 4l  σ2 h 4hl 4l 
   
FEM formulation, the element conductivity is determined −l l −h h
0 0
as the average of its node values. h h 4l 4l
where σ1 and σ2 are the average conductivity from the
A possible objetive function is the Euclidean distance triangular elements E1 and E2, respectively.
between the measured potentials and simulated potentials,
i.e. potentials calculated using the foreward problem. Let For the elements in contact with the upper metallic plate,
φmi be the measured potential at the i-th electrode and follows that
 2   l 
φsi be the simulated potential at the i-th electrode. The h + 4l2 −h −l −l
0
objective function E is given by  4hl 4l h  h h 
K3   K  
  −h   2 2 
h
=  −l h + 4l −h  (14)
4
= 0 ,
E(σ) = |φm s
i − φi |2 , (10) σc  4l 4l  σ  h 4hl 4l 
  c  
−l l −h h
where σ is the conductivity distribution inside the domain. 0 0
h h 4l 4l
Some approaches were proposed in the literature to solve where σc is the simulated contact conductivity.
the EIT as an optimization problem, such as a linear pro-
graming based (Mello et al., 2008) and simulated annealing 4.1 Model simplification
based (Martins and Tsuzuki, 2011, 2012; Martins et al.,
2011, 2016). The linear system defined by elements E3 and E4 is

 h2 + 4l2 −h −l 
0
 4hl 4l h
4. DUAL LAYER ELECTRODE MODEL  
 −h h2 + 4l2 −l    
 0  φa Ja
 4l 4hl h  φb
The electrode model shown in Fig. 3 has two layers with σc     =  Jb 
 −l h2 + 4l2 −h  φN JN
different conductivities and a metallic plate in contact with  0  φ
 h 4hl 4l  M JM
the upper surface, being the average conductivity on each  
 −l −h h2 + 4l2 
element constant on the upper layer and variable on the 0
h 4l 4hl
second. The model can be divided as the superposition of
elements shown in Fig. 4a. (15)
The repeating element can also be decomposed in 4 trian- As the conductivity is very high on the metallic plate,
gular elements as shown in Fig. 4b, generating four sets of φb = φN = φM and Jb = JM + JN and the top nodes can
equations given by be replaced by one single node p, resulting in the simplified

43
IFAC BMS 2018
44
São Paulo, Brazil, September 3-5, 2018 André K. Sato et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-27 (2018) 41–46

h/2
a b
h/2

i j
l (a) (b)

Fig. 5. Simplified dual layer electrode element. Fig. 7. Experiments configurations: (a) physical phantom
and (b) in vivo.

...

Fig. 6. Simplified dual layer electrode model.

model element shown in Fig. 5, where the position of p is
not important. The new simplified model reduces (15) to

 
h −h −h −l
(+ )
 4l 4l 4l h
    
 −l h l −l  φ Ja
 ( + )  a
 h 4l h h  φ b = Jb . (16)

  φN JN
 −l −l 2l 
h h h (a)

The full simplified model is show in Fig. 6. Note that in

this simplified model, K1 and K2 are still given by (7).

5. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

The proposed dual layer electrode method was tested with

two experimental data sets. It impacts the direct problem
solution which uses a FEM mesh and the electrode model.
A simulated annealing algorithm, proposed by Martins
et al. (2016), was adopted to solve the inverse problem.
The results were then compared with the original algo-
rithm, which adopts the single layer electrode model.
5.1 Experimental Data
Two sets of experimental data were used to perform tests
on the new FEM model. The first consist of an experiment
with physical phantom, which was reproduced from (Mar-
tins et al., 2016). Three cucumbers slices are immersed
in a saline solution inside a cylindrical container with
32 electrodes (see Fig. 7a). A series of 32 measurements
were performed using current patterns jump 3, in which
pairs are separated by 3 electrodes. As the potential is
measured in each electrode, a total of 1024 measurements
were collected. The current had frequency of 125Hz and
peak amplitude of 190 mA. It is important to observe that,
in this configuration, the electrodes have direct contact
with the water.
For the second set, data from the in vivo experiment
described in (Martins et al., 2016) was considered. The
experiment consisted of extracting data from a human
subject thorax whose chest perimeter was 90 cm. The 32
(b)
Fig. 8. FEM models for (a) physical phantom and (b) in
vivo experiments. Gray region in (b) represents the
outer ring.
electrodes, with 10 mm × 20 mm dimensions, were equidis-
tantly positioned along the body, as shown in Fig. 7b. The
1024 measurements were obtained by applying a current
with 0.866 mA peak amplitude and 125 kHz frequency in
a jump 3 current pattern.
5.2 Reconstruction implementation considerations
Figures 8(a) and (b) show the FEM meshes for the
phantom and in vivo experiments with 695 and 705 nodes,
respectively. For the in vivo mesh, an outer ring region is
defined, containing outer nodes, in which the conductivity
is presumed constant.
A regularization term was adopted, as in (Martins et al.,
2016), which consists of the norm of the conductivity
gradient, which favors smooth transitions. It penalizes the

44
 IFAC BMS 2018
São Paulo, Brazil, September 3-5, 2018 André K. Sato et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-27 (2018) 41–46 45

objective function. Also, the contact conductivity of the

electrodes was fixed, with value of 0.002 (Ω·m)−1 . Consider
the norm regularization has a value rn , the new objective
function F can be defined as

F (σ) = E(σ) + α · rn (σ) (17)

where E(σ) is defined in (10).
The metaheuristic simulated annealing was adopted to
solve the optimization problem. The algorithm applied to
the EIT problem is described in (Martins et al., 2012).
The conductivities at each nodes are the variables and, at
each iteration, a the objective function is determined by
solving the forward problem using the conjugate gradient
method. Also, for each iteration, the two regulation terms 0.005 0.193 0.382

are recalculated. The convergence is reached when the cost (a) Original
function variance for the last 3 temperature steps is too
low.

5.3 Preliminary results

Figure 9 shows the results from the reconstruction of the

physical phantom using the proposed electrode compared
with the original model. Figure 9a shows the reconstructed
image with the original model and Fig. 9b shows the result
using the new model. The difference between the images
is displayed in Fig. 9c.
Visual inspection of the results show that there is little
difference between the reconstructions. The difference im-
age shows a high value near one of the electrodes, however.
Discarding these outliers, it is possible to observe that the
major discrepancy are situated around the top cucumber, 0.005 0.193 0.382

which is closer to the border. Although the proposed (b) Proposed

reconstruction shows a rounder top object, it is difficult
to definitively asses its accuracy.
Three values for the regularization of the in vivo recon-
structions were adopted: 30, 2000 and 10000. Fig. 10
displays the reconstruction obtained for the in vivo ex-
periments data with different regularizations.
The reconstructions comparison show similar results for
both approaches, independent of regularization values.
The small difference is not determinant to evaluate the
quality of the image. Therefore, it is not possible to
evaluate the impact of the new electrode model for the
in vivo reconstruction.

6. CONCLUSION
0.000 0.020 0.041
The reconstruction of static EIT images is an ill posed
(c) Absolute difference
inverse problem and, thus, is a challenging task. When
using the FEM, the electrode model is an important factor Fig. 9. Conductivity distribution with values in (Ω · m)−1
for the solution quality. In this work, a new dual layer elec- for the reconstructed physical phantom experiment.
trode model is proposed to better simulated the interaction
in the electrode-skin interface. Two experimental data
sets were used for the tests, each with different electrode
configurations. The physical phantom uses electrodes di-
rectly touching the saline solution, whereas the in vivo
experiment has a additional gel layer. The physical phan- both algorithms produced similar result and it is difficult
tom reconstruction showed a possible minor improvement to determine which is closest to the real values. As it
over the single layer electrode model. However, it was not is important to investigate both cases, a more in depth
possible to evaluate the in vivo preliminary results, as testing of in vivo data is necessary.

45
IFAC BMS 2018
46
São Paulo, Brazil, September 3-5, 2018 André K. Sato et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-27 (2018) 41–46

Kolehmainen, V., Lassas, M., and Ola, P. (2008). Electri-

cal impedance tomography problem with inaccurately
known boundary and contact impedances. IEEE T Med
Imaging, 27(10), 1404–1414.
Martins, T.C., Camargo, E.D.L.B., Lima, R.G., Am-
ato, M.B.P., and Tsuzuki, M.S.G. (2011). Electrical
impedance tomography reconstruction through simu-
lated annealing with incomplete evaluation of the ob-
Original Proposed jective function. In Proc 33th IEEE EMBS, 7033–7036.
Boston, USA.
Martins, T.C., Camargo, E.D.L.B., Lima, R.G., Amato,
0.001 0.150 0.300
M.B.P., and Tsuzuki, M.S.G. (2012). Image recon-
struction using interval simulated annealing in electrical
(a) α = 30
impedance tomography. IEEE T Biomed Eng, 59(7),
1861–1870.
Martins, T.C. and Tsuzuki, M.S.G. (2011). Simulated
annealing with partial evaluation of objective function
applied to electrical impedance tomography. In Proc
18th IFAC WC, 4989–4994. Milano, Italy.
Martins, T.C. and Tsuzuki, M.S.G. (2012). Electrical
impedance tomography reconstruction through simu-
lated annealing with total least square error as objective
function. In Proc 34th IEEE EMBS, 1518–1521.
Original Proposed Martins, T.C. and Tsuzuki, M.S.G. (2013). Electrical
impedance tomography reconstruction through simu-
0.001 0.049 0.098 lated annealing with multi-stage partially evaluated ob-
jective functions. In Proc 35th IEEE EMBS, 6425–6428.
(b) α = 2000 Osaka, Japan.
Martins, T.C. and Tsuzuki, M.S.G. (2015). EIT image
regularization by a new multi-objective simulated an-
nealing algorithm. In Proc 37th IEEE EMBC, 4069–
4072. Milan, Italy.
Martins, T.C., Fernandes, A.V., and Tsuzuki, M.S.G.
(2014). Image reconstruction by electrical impedance
tomography using multi-objective simulated annealing.
In IEEE 11th ISBI, 185–188. Beijing, China.
Martins, T.C. and Tsuzuki, M.S. (2017). Investigat-
Original Proposed ing anisotropic EIT with simulated annealing. IFAC-
PapersOnLine, 50(1), 9961–9966. 20th IFAC WC.
0.002 0.046 0.089
Martins, T.C., Tsuzuki, M.S.G., Camargo, E.D.L.B.,
Lima, R.G., Moura, F.S., and Amato, M.B.P. (2016).
(c) α = 10000
Interval simulated annealing applied to electrical
impedance tomography image reconstruction with fast
Fig. 10. Conductivity distribution with values in (Ω · m)−1 objective function evaluation. Comput Math Appl,
for the reconstructed the in vivo experiment with 72(5), 1230–1243.
different α (regularization) values. Mello, L.A.M., Lima, C.R., Amato, M.B.P., Lima, R.G.,
and Silva, E.C.N. (2008). Three-dimensional electrical
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS impedance tomography: A topology optimization ap-
proach. IEEE T Biomed Eng, 55(2), 531–540.
A. K. Sato was supported by CAPES/PNPD. M. S. G. Silva, O.L., Lima, R.G., Martins, T.C., Moura, F.S.,
Tsuzuki and T. C. Martins were partially supported by Tavares, R.S., and Tsuzuki, M.S.G. (2017). Influence
the CNPq (Grants 305.959/2016–6 and 306.415/ 2012–7). of current injection pattern and electric potential mea-
This project is supported by FAPESP (Grant 2017/07799- surement strategies in electrical impedance tomography.
5) and by USP (NAP TIE-US). Control Eng Pract, 58, 276–286.
Tavares, R.S., Filho, F.A.N., Tsuzuki, M.S., Martins, T.C.,
REFERENCES and Lima, R.G. (2014). Discretization error and the EIT
forward problem. IFAC-PapersOnLine, 47(3), 7535–
Barber, D.C. and Brown, B.H. (1984). Applied potential 7540. 19th IFAC WC.
tomography. J Phys E: Sci Instrum, 17(9), 723–733. Tavares, R.S., Sato, A.K., Martins, T.C., Lima, R.G.,
Brown, B.H. and Seagar, A.D. (1987). The Sheffield data and Tsuzuki, M.S.G. (2017). GPU acceleration
collection system. Clin Phys Physiol M, 8(4A), 91–97. of absolute EIT image reconstruction using sim-
Hua, P., Webster, J.G., and Tompkins, W.J. (1988). A reg- ulated annealing. Biomed Signal Proces. doi:
ularised electrical impedance tomography reconstruc- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bspc.2017.02.007.
tion algorithm. Clin Phys Physiol M, 9(4A), 137–141.

46