QUICK OVERVIEW

BCM – Body Composition Monitor quick overview

The BCM - Body Composition Monitor allows the detection of overhydration by determining the quantitative amount of excess fluid in the body.

Therefore the clinician is able to set up the optimal fluid therapy taking into account the pathologically impaired fluid status. By providing an objective measure of fluid status in only one short measurement, it dramatically shortens the initial trial-and-error phase of finding the optimal dry weight in incident dialysis patients.

The BCM-Body Composition Monitor is also extremely useful in the long-term monitoring of patients: By providing not only a measure of overhydration but also of body composition in terms of lean and fat mass, it enables identifying changes in body composition which require adaptation of the dry weight. Therefore, the BCM can improve therapy in all fields of chronic and end stage renal disease management.

The BCM system combines bioimpedance spectroscopy technology with an physiologic tissue model all in a small portable medical device. The measurement is



 Clinically important information about the body composition and the patients’ fluid status can be determined by measuring the electrical impedance response in the beta dispersion range. The complete range of the beta dispersion is sampled between 5 kHz and 1 MHz at 50 frequencies.

The physiologic tissue model is based on the different hydration properties of tissues in the human body. Physiologic differences in the distribution and amount of fluid (extracellular, intracellular and total body fluid) allow the precise determination of the three compartments Lean Tissue Mass (mainly muscle mass), Overhydration and Fat Mass. The BCM – Body Composition Monitor is also the first device on the market to distinguish muscle mass from pathologic fluid overload (see “From Technology to Therapy"). This is of special interest for the detection of malnutrition in chronic kidney disease patients.

Both the large range of measurement frequencies and the physiologic tissue model are advantages over other bioimpedance devices, which usually rely on empiric equations suited only for limited populations.

The displayed body composition and fluid balance parameters are based on a physiological model and should only be regarded as a guide. Treatment parameters and therapeutic decisions must never be made solely on the basis of the values determined by the BCM – Body Composition Monitor. The independent advice and opinion of the physician should always be
sought.