South Korean electronics giant, Samsung has developed a device that is able to measure body fat with marginal errors. A body fat value serves as a main index to determine fatness, which is known to cause many adult diseases. The body fat measuring device has four electrodes that the user touches with the thumb and one finger of each hand.
The electrodes send a safe current through the body, measuring the voltage drop as the current flows up one arm and down the other. Since fat occupies around 17 per cent of a human body and contains little water, it offers less electrical resistance.
To use the device, the user has to enter his/her body weight. The device makes its best guess of the percentage of fat in the body. However, the device will show near accurate results when the finger contact is perfect.
To stop people from accidentally or even deliberately “fooling” the machine, the user must gradually increase finger pressure while the device sends the test voltage.