Evaluation of body composition parameters using various diagnostic methods: A meta analysis study

• Published in: Obesity medicine Vol. 16; p. 100150
• Main Authors: Rashmi, Richa, Snekhalatha, U.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2019
• Subjects: Adipose fat tissue; Body composition; Fat mass index; Obesity; Total body water; Visceral fat tissue; Fat mass index; Obesity; Visceral fat tissue; Total body water; Body composition; Adipose fat tissue
• ISSN: 2451-8476; 2451-8476
• DOI: 10.1016/j.obmed.2019.100150

The systematic study aims to provide a brief summary of existing techniques and technological advances used for measuring the body composition in an individual.
The different techniques used for the assessment of body composition parameters were discussed in the study as follows: densitometry, plethysmography, isotope dilution, whole body 40K counting, anthropometric, bioelectrical impedance analysis, ultrasound, DEXA, CT, MRI and thermal imaging.
In the thermal imaging method, the percentage difference in abdominal skin temperature between normal and obese subject was found to be 4.45%. In ultrasound imaging, we obtain three bands of white layers which act as an interface between skin-fat, fat-muscle and muscle-bone. The subcutaneous fat tissue and muscle thickness was measured as 4.23 mm and 31.75 mm respectively. The MRI of an abdomen region was performed at the site of the L3-L4 disc and the subcutaneous adipose tissue volume was measured as 1955.11 cm3.
The proposed study summarises the benefits and drawbacks of different techniques, as each technique has its own pros and cons. Among the imaging modalities studied, non-invasive imaging method such as thermal imaging and ultrasound was found to be a feasible imaging technique for the assessment of body composition in an individual.
•A significant temperature difference was observed in abdominal region between the normal and obese using thermal imaging.•Ultrasound technique is a reliable method to measure the subcutaneous fat tissue volume in the thigh region.•The subcutaneous adipose tissue was segmented and its volume was measured from 3D abdominal MRI image.