Bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) and the democatrization of health

BIS DATA THE MOST UNDERVALUED DATA

In this post I would like to talk about the importance of democratizing health, which would greatly benefit the health systems around the world. I will dive in the bioimpedance spectroscopy technology or (BIS) which in my head is one of the most unrecognized but important technologies for patients around the world. BIS lets you measure your body composition in a very accurate manner. It calculates the ratio between compartments in your body that include:

FAT, LEAN TISSUE, EXTRACELLULAR WATER and INTRACELLULAR WATER (in both fat and lean tissue).

It works like this: a small electrical current is sent through your body, cells in your body sometimes act as conductors or insulators, depending on the frequency of the el. current. Changing the frequency allows us to calculate (with special alghoritms) ratios between all the mentiones compartments.

Devices like this are mostly held by hospitals and other institutions. Patients around the world are not able to measure themselves at home which actualy turns out to be very costly for insurance agencies and patients. With the evolving technology we are not far from buying one of this devices in a store for a very cheap price. There are already companies developing devices like this but they are not on the market yet. Some are saying that they will cost as low as 200$ (compared to the multi thousand ones today).

With advanced and affordable bioimpedance spectroscopy BIS devices People around the world will be able to perform measurements at home or anywhere else. Not only that, but diseases related to hydration, fat and muscle tissue will be far more preventable than they were before, saving people and insurance agencies massive amounts of money. Many diseasses show symptoms after it's already too late, even if lets say water in our body is gatering for weeks. With BIS devices we will be able to detect changes in our body before the disease is at a late stage.

Heart disease wreaks havoc on our economy. Currently, heart disease is the costliest disease in the US, with a price tag of $555 billion in 2016. By 2035, experts predict the costs will be in the trillions. Out of all heart diseases, heart failure is one of them. With BIS, symptoms related to the increase of the extracellular water, will be easily detected and prevented before a potentially life-threatening situation that would hospitalize a patient.

Kidney related disease costs the US government around $48 billion in medical costs and lost productivity a year and consumes about 6.7% of the total Medicare budget. Medical journals have reported that fluid overload measured by BIS is the number one predictor of mortality, which is prevalent in 25% of kidney dialysis patients. With two million people on dialysis worldwide, the identification and removal of the excess fluid translates into potentially hundreds of thousands of lives being saved each year. The detection of excess water was until now available only in hospitals for dialysis patients. With BIS, the patient could detect fluid overload at home and react in a timely manner.
Diabetes also imposes a substantial economic burden on healthcare systems. In 2012 alone, it cost the US around $176 billion. Diabetics know that they must reduce the amount of fat in their body and increase the amount of muscle tissue. Until now, they were not able to measure the exact changes between these compartments. Even if they lost weight, they could have lost muscle instead of fat which can affect their metabolism that is connected to insulin resistance/sensitivity.

The same goes for obese people; experts know that fat tissue produces mediators which cause chronic inflammatory processes. In cancer patients it is very important to maintain muscle mass, which is one of the predictors for the outcome and quality of life. A common problem caused by cancer and cancer treatment is lymphedema. Fluid builds up in soft body tissues and causes swelling. BIS would be able to detect the fluid being gathered before symptoms occur, saving the patient from life-long consequences. We also cannot ignore the elderly population that is at risk of osteoporosis and related fractures; it is commonly known that maintaining muscle tissue improves quality of life and reduces mortality in the elderly population.

These are only a few areas where a cheap but accurate BIS device can have a significant impact. Data gathered by BIS will be the first data of its kind from such a wide spectrum of people. Analytics will be able to identify extreme patterns in certain regions and better address patient needs, improve care and life quality and reduce the costs. By accurately and routinely measuring body composition, BIS will enable to combine granular body composition data of individual with the granular data of the rest of the population. This unprecedented amount of data, would help create big changes for healthy and sick people as well as for professionals and health policies.

My opinion is that the more technology advances in the medical field, the more health will be democratized. Patients will take the driver's seat and have more control over their health instead of relying strictly on hospitals. I am not stating that doctors an hospitals should be put away, but democratizing health can save a doctor a lot of times, hospitals a lot of beds and the goverment a lot of money.

Thank you