MUSCLE FUNCTION EVALUATION METHOD AND MUSCLE FUNCTION EVALUATION APPARATUS

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a muscle function evaluation method capable of easily and accurately evaluating the degree of site-specific reduction of skeletal muscle mass of a patient suffering from a neuromuscular disorder.SOLUTION: The body weight of a patient is measured (S3). Impedance measuring electrodes composed of a pair of current application electrodes and a pair of voltage measuring electrodes are brought into contact with the surface of the body of the patient to measure the impedance of the body. Specifically, an alternate current of a low frequency (e.g. 5 kHz) is applied to the electrodes in contact with a site for measurement to measure the impedance (S4). An alternate current of a high frequency (e.g. 250 kHz) to the electrodes to measure the impedance (S5). The impedance ratio Z/Zis computed (S6). The muscle mass is computed from the computed impedance ratio (S7). The muscle function is evaluated from the impedance ratio, the body weight, and the muscle mass (S8).