Noncontact scanning electrical impedance imaging

We are interested in applying electrical impedance imaging to a single cell because it has potential to reveal both cell anatomy and cell function. Unfortunately, classic impedance imaging techniques are not applicable to this small scale measurement due to their low resolution. In this paper, a different method of impedance imaging is developed based on a noncontact scanning system. In this system, the imaging sample is immersed in an aqueous solution allowing for the use of various probe designs. Among those designs, we discuss a novel shield-probe design that has the advantage of better signal-to-noise ratio with higher resolution compared to other probes. Images showing the magnitude of current for each scanned point were obtained using this configuration. A low-frequency linear physical model helps to relate the current to the conductivity at each point. Line-scan data of high impedance contrast structures can be shown to be a good fit to this model. The first two-dimensional impedance image of biological tissues generated by this technique is shown with resolution on the order of 100 μm. The image reveals details not present in the optical image.