Clinically applicable optical imaging technology for body size and shape analysis: comparison of systems differing in...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Anthropometry
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Traditional anthropometry relies on manual measurements.
• Automated 3D optical devices offer rapid acquisition of numerous body dimensions.
• New inexpensive optical camera-based systems require evaluation for clinical use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate the accuracy and precision of three new 3D optical anthropometry devices.
• To compare measurements from optical devices against established reference methods.

Main Methods:

• 113 adult subjects underwent measurements using three optical devices (KX-16, Proscanner, Styku scanner).
• Reference measurements included air displacement plethysmography (ADP), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and flexible tape measures.
• Optical device measurements were compared to reference method estimates.

Main Results:

• Optical devices showed high correlations with tape measurements (e.g., R² 0.90-0.96 for hip circumference) and DXA (e.g., R² 0.97-0.98 for trunk volume).
• Total body volumes from optical devices were highly correlated with ADP (all R²s 0.99).
• Optical devices exhibited larger coefficients of variation and some significant bias compared to reference methods.

Conclusions:

• The evaluated 3D optical imaging systems provide body surface measurements comparable to reference methods.
• Identified limitations, such as landmarking discrepancies, offer potential for improving future device development.