Introduction:

Thi s pape r shows the implementation of Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) in the characterization of the cervical columnar tissue and as a supporting tool to the diagnostic techniques of cervical cáncer

Methods:

A diagnostic validity study was performed on 30 non-menopausal patients who presented cervical ectopy during colposcopy. A total of 129 electric impedance spectra of columnar tissue was obtained, which were differentiated into four measurement zones or points similar to time zones 12, 3, 6, and 9 of an analog clock. The experimental data obtained were adjusted to the Cole-Cole model which describes the physiology and structure of the tissue through electrical resistivity parameters R and S, characteristic frequency Fc and membrane capacitance Mc.

Results:

The comparison between healthy and damaged columnar tissue at each of the measurement points was performed using non-parametric Mann-Whitney U tests which showed statistically significant differences (p <0.05) for the R and S medians with a 95% confidence level. The average values of R and S for healthy columnar tissue were 2.0 Ω-m and 11.36 Ω-m, with 0.41 and 0.51 standard deviation respectively, whereas for a damaged tissue the average value of R and S were 4.21 Ω-m and 7.03 Ω-m, with 0.40 standard deviation for both measurements.

Conclusions:

It was found that the resistivity of the extracellular liquid R, and the resistivity of the intracellular matrix S, are the parameters that better discriminate between healthy columnar epithelia and those affected by lesions.

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