Conductivities of epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue at intermediate frequencies

Abstract

Novel data for the conductivities of the tissues composing the skin, which are the epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous tissue, were obtained at intermediate frequencies by in vitro measurement. The conductivity of the epidermis was determined from those of the dermis and bulk skin. The conductivities of the dermis and subcutaneous tissue were almost constant from 10 kHz to 1 MHz. On the other hand, a frequency dependence was observed for the epidermis; the conductivity decreases with decreasing frequency. It was found that the conductivity of bulk skin is not determined by that of the dermis but by that of the epidermis. The presented data are expected to contribute to the assessment of safety and to the research and development of medical applications.