Skin impedance might be a rough measure of Vitamin D – Dec 2021

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A Novel Biosensor and Algorithm to Predict Vitamin D Status by Measuring Skin Impedance

Sensors 2021, 21(23), 8118; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21238118 by Jin-Chul Heo 1,Doyoon Kim 2,Hyunsoo An 2ORCID,Chang-Sik Son 3ORCID,Sangwoo Cho 4 andJong-Ha Lee 1,*ORCID
1 Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Keimyung University, Daegu 42601, Korea
2 Samsung Research, Samsung Electronics, Suwon 16677, Korea
3 Division of Intelligent Robot, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu 42988, Korea
4 The Center for Advanced Technology in Testing Human Factors, Keimyung University, Daegu 42601, Korea

The deficiency and excess of Vitamin D cause various diseases, necessitating continuous management; but it is not easy to accurately measure the serum vitamin D level in the body using a non-invasive method. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between vitamin D levels, body information obtained by an InBody scan, and blood parameters obtained during health checkups, to determine the optimum frequency of vitamin D quantification in the skin and to propose a vitamin D measurement method based on impedance. We assessed body composition, arm impedance, and blood vitamin D concentrations to determine the correlation between each element using multiple machine learning analyses and an algorithm which predicted the concentration of vitamin D in the body using the impedance value developed. Body fat percentage obtained from the InBody device and blood parameters albumin and lactate dehydrogenase correlated with vitamin D level. An impedance measurement frequency of 21.1 Hz was reflected in the blood vitamin D concentration at optimum levels, and a confidence level of about 75% for vitamin D in the body was confirmed. These data demonstrate that the concentration of vitamin D in the body can be predicted using impedance measurement values. This method can be used for predicting and monitoring vitamin D-related diseases and may be incorporated in wearable health measurement devices.
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Observations by Founder of VitaminDWiki (formerly an Instrumentation Engineer)

I designed and built devices that measured a wide range of parameters for >20 years
This study experimented with a wide range of frequencies to measure skin impedance and found 21Hz the best correlation to Vitamin D
Additional potential measurement inputs include:

• Phase Angle
• Compare Impedance at two different amplitudes
• Compare Impedance at two different frequencies
• Compare Impedance measured with different waveforms (sinusoid, square, pulse, etc)
• Measure impedance using impulse response, rather than continuous waveform

There are a wide variety of analysis techniques
There are a wide variety of sources of interference not mentioned in this study- such as

• sweat
• hydration level
• Ratio of body fat to muscle

Skin impedance appears to have the potential to roughly determine Vitamin D levels, but it is years in the future

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Vitamin D estimation using Machine Learning (One of the references)

A Predictive Performance Analysis of Vitamin D Deficiency Severity Using Machine Learning Methods - IEEE, June 2020

Many Machine Learning Techniques provide OK accuracy

 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

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VitaminDWiki - Tests for Vitamin D contains:

• Fact: Many countries no longer pay for more than 1 (some not pay for even a single Vit D test)
    They feel that Vit D testing is not needed except for a few conditions (Rickets, etc) Japan is an exception
• Fact: Vit D tests are not very accurate
     The best lab tests have accuracies and repeatabilities of +-5 ng
     Low cost vitamin D Blood Tests - both in lab and at home
     Many lab tests have accuracies and repeatabilities of +- 10 ng - or worse
     Vitamin D deficiency of a group - 15% to 48%
• Fact: Low-cost office/home Vit D tests are available around the world (not US as of 2018)
     Low-cost 35 ng Y/N test by Nanospeed
     Low-cost Vitamin D testers (two yes-no tests for 42 dollars) - 2023 Nanospeed
     Quick, free, self test for deficiency
• Fact: 3 major Vit D gene problems are not noticed by Vit D tests
     ~ 20% of people have poor Vit D genes
     Hint that Vit D not getting to cells: Vit D related diseases run in your family
     Another hint - you have one of the 40 diseases which are 2X more likely if have poor genes
• Fact: A Vit D test will rarely (<1 in 1000) indicate that you are getting too much
• Opinion: If only getting a single test, wait till after supplementing with Vit D
     3 months after starting a maintenance dose or 4 weeks after a loading dose