Electrical impedance of human blood with and without anticoagulants in the β-dispersion region

Impedance spectroscopy of blood with and without anticoagulants (Acid Citrate Dextrose (ACD), Ethylene Diamine Tetra-acetic Acid (EDTA) and Lithium Heparin (LH)), taken from healthy donors, ages 24–33, are performed in the frequency range 100 kHz-1MHz, using the two electrode impedance measurement method. High frequency data are used in fitting the Cole plot, assuming electrode polarization effects are negligible. It is verified that this is acceptable since the characteristic frequency of the blood is around 1MHz. Cole parameters are used to evaluate the effects of anticoagulants on blood impedance. Interior resistance of red blood cells is not influenced by addition of anticoagulants, whereas plasma resistance, characteristic frequency and depression angle changed. ACD decreases plasma resistance and alpha value of blood, but increases its characteristic frequency. LH significantly increases plasma resistance, but its effect in the characteristic frequency is not clear. No significant effects of EDTA on the electrical properties of blood are detected.