Tissue dielectric constant (TDC) measurement may become an important tool in the clinical evaluation of chronic lower extremity swelling in women; however, several factors are known to influence TDC measurements, and comparative data on healthy lower extremities are few.
Thirty-four healthy women volunteered. Age, BMI, moisturizer use and hair removal were registered. Three blinded investigators performed TDC measurements in a randomized sequence on clearly marked locations on the foot, the ankle and the lower leg. The effective measuring depth was 2.5 mm.
The mean TDC was 37.8 ± 5.5 (mean ± SD) on the foot, 29.0 ± 3.1 on the ankle and 30.5 ± 3.9 on the lower leg. TDC was highly dependent on measuring site (P