The measure is called leg bioimpedance. Body composition machines use bioimpedance to calculate body fat by measuring how easily weak electrical currents can pass through tissue.

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California proposed the measure as a new risk factor for heart failure after analyzing data on over half a million United Kingdom residents aged 49–69.

In a paper published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, they report how they found that lower leg bioimpedance was tied to a higher risk of heart failure.

Heart failure is a condition in which the heart continues beating but fails to pump enough oxygen-rich blood to meet the needs of organs in the body.

In the United States, the condition affects around 5.7 million adults and has an estimated annual cost of $30.7 billion.

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