Assessment of body composition : total, central, and regional adiposity via stereovision body imaging

textThis research utilized stereovision body imaging (SBI) as a method for determining total, central and regional body composition. In Aim 1, prediction equations for abdominal adiposity were developed via anthropometrics, SBI, and magnetic resonance imaging. R2 for total abdominal, subcutaneous, and visceral adiposity were 89.9%, 90.4% and 71.7%, respectively. The prediction of visceral fat was improved when SBI was included as a method. In Aim 2, body size and shape of men and women, as well as risks associated with accumulation of visceral adiposity, were determined by body measurements via SBI. Men had higher total body, torso and abdomen-hip volumes and waist circumference, while women exhibited greater thigh volume, hip circumference, and lower body-volume ratios (p0.05). Thigh to torso [odds ratios (OR) 0.44] and abdomen-hip (OR 0.41) volume ratios were associated with decreased risks of accumulating visceral adiposity. SBI was effective for determination of body size and shape and the prediction of visceral adiposity accumulation in adults. In Aim 3, the efficacy of body measurements assessed by SBI was explored for the determination of android and gynoid body fat via SBI and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. The R2 of the mathematical equations established by body measurements assessed via SBI for fat mass and percent body fat were 93.2% and 76.4% for android, and 91.4% and 66.5% for gynoid, respectively. These prediction values indicate that SBI is good for estimation of android and gynoid body fat mass; but less effective for percent body fat. An improved understanding of human body composition was achieved by this research.Nutritional Science

Comparison of lower body segment alignment of elite level hockey players to age-matched non-hockey players

Master's Project (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2015Lower body overuse and insidious onset injuries are thought to have an underlying biomechanical component which may be predisposing to injury. The purpose of this study was to compare lower body biomechanical characteristics for elite hockey players to matched controls. I hypothesize that elite hockey players have a greater degree of anterior pelvic tilt, greater varus knee angle, a higher foot arch and feet held in parallel more during gait than a matched non-skating population. Measures were taken of elite level, college aged, male hockey players and compared to cross country runners (ten subjects in each group) who served as controls for trunk angle, pelvic tilt angle, knee alignment, (varus/valgus angle), foot angle, arch index (arch height), hip, center of range of motion, hip external rotation, hip internal rotation, hip total range of motion (ROM), knee transverse plane ROM, and step width. The results obtained support the hypothesis for anterior pelvic tilt and foot angle during gait. Although knee angle was in the expected varus direction it was not significant and no differences were observed in the foot arch between the groups. All other measurements not directly related to the hypothesis were not significantly different with the exception of mean step width. The obtained results are important as recent literature describes a lower body posture of medial collapse into "dynamic valgus" as being predisposing to injury. Results show, on the spectrum from lower body varus to lower body valgus, hockey players are on the varus side of the spectrum in all attributes except arch height, which was similar in both populations. Since lower body alignment is thought to be coupled, this inconsistency appears contrary to the "medial collapse into dynamic valgus" model and may explain why foot orthotics and athletic shoes used as an injury intervention often fail

Anthropometric Indicators as a Tool for Diagnosis of Obesity and Other Health Risk Factors: A Literature Review

[EN] Obesity is characterized by the accumulation of an excessive amount of fat mass (FM) in the adipose tissue, subcutaneous, or inside certain organs. The risk does not lie so much in the amount of fat accumulated as in its distribution. Abdominal obesity (central or visceral) is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer, having an important role in the so-called metabolic syndrome. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent, detect, and appropriately treat obesity. The diagnosis is based on anthropometric indices that have been associated with adiposity and its distribution. Indices themselves, or a combination of some of them, conform to a big picture with different values to establish risk. Anthropometric indices can be used for risk identification, intervention, or impact evaluation on nutritional status or health; therefore, they will be called anthropometric health indicators (AHIs). We have found 17 AHIs that can be obtained or estimated from 3D human shapes, being a noninvasive alternative compared to X-ray-based systems, and more accessible than high-cost equipment. A literature review has been conducted to analyze the following information for each indicator: definition; main calculation or obtaining methods used; health aspects associated with the indicator (among others, obesity, metabolic syndrome, or diabetes); criteria to classify the population by means of percentiles or cutoff points, and based on variables such as sex, age, ethnicity, or geographic area, and limitations.BODYPASS Project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 779780. CIBER de Diabetes and Enfermedades Metabolicas Asociadas (CIBERDEM) is an Instituto de Salud Carlos III initiative. SM-H was an investigator in the Juan Rodes program (JR18/00051) financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). Project (IMDEEA/2020/87) supported by Instituto Valenciano de Competitividad Empresarial (IVACE), call for proposals 2020 for Technology Centers of the Comunitat Valenciana, cofunded by ERDF Funds, EU Operational Program of the Comunitat Valenciana 2014-2020.Piqueras Fiszman, P.; Ballester Fernandez, A.; Durá-Gil, JV.; Martinez-Hervas, S.; Redón, J.; Real, JT. (2021). Anthropometric Indicators as a Tool for Diagnosis of Obesity and Other Health Risk Factors: A Literature Review. Frontiers in Psychology. 12:1-19. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.6311791191

Quantitative body shape analysis for obesity evaluation

Obesity is a public health concern as it is associated with a number of diseases, such as diabetes mellitus type 2, cardiovascular disease, some forms of renal failure and certain types of cancers. Growing evidence suggests that it is not only the amount of fat, but also its distribution in the body that is important to predict metabolic risk factors and adverse changes in organs. In this respect, it is necessary to develop convenient and inexpensive measures to characterize human body fat distribution and to investigate the unknown linkage between intrinsic adiposity and external body shape. This dissertation research aims to improve the obesity assessment by developing new quantitative measurements that comprehensively characterize body shape, and are highly relevant to intrinsic abdominal adiposity conditions. The proposed body shape descriptors were defined based on three-dimensional body images reconstructed from a custom-made stereovision body imaging system, which is particularly suitable for clinical use as an obesity monitoring equipment for its high portability and affordability. In this study, we developed a fully-automated algorithm to process T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) slices for abdominal adiposity measurements. This algorithm dramatically reduces the processing time and workload compared with traditional manual or semi-automatic methods for MRI processing, and greatly improves the repeatability and objectivity of fat assessments. A new obesity categorization method was then defined based on MRI adiposity data to depict characteristics of abdominal fat distribution, and the associations between the body shape descriptors and the MRI abdominal adiposity were explored. It was shown that the proposed body shape descriptors are able to capture the body shape differences between the subjects with dissimilar internal fat distribution (i.e., different categories), and to provide excellent prediction for the category of fat distribution through an optimized support-vector-machine classifier. The predictive models established in this dissertation demonstrate that the novel body shape descriptors were also effective for prediction of the volumes of abdominal visceral fat and subcutaneous fat accumulated in male and female adults. This dissertation introduces an innovative approach to assess obesity and fat distribution based on newly defined shape descriptors, and provides new findings that reveal the associations of intrinsic fat distribution with external body shapes, which enable both qualitative and quantitative assessment of obesity from body shape measurements.Biomedical Engineerin

Current Researches on the Methods of Diagnosing Sasang Constitution: An Overview

Sasang constitution diagnosis has traditionally been conducted by a Sasang constitutional medicine (SCM) doctor who examines the external appearance, temperament and various symptoms of an individual and then collectively analyzes this information to determine their own constitutions. However, because this process is subjective and not quantitative, many researchers have been attempting to develop objective and reasonable methods of determining constitutions. In Korea, even though a wide range of research regarding SCM has been conducted, most of the work has not been revealed internationally. So in this review, the authors have searched the Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, as well as other Korean domestic journal databases and Pubmed for research regarding modernized constitution diagnosis methods so to provide the understanding of current research state and outlook for future research

Association between newly developed body indices with total and trunk fat mass in older adults

Objective: In recent years, new body indexes have been developed, such as Body Shape Index (ABSI), Body Adiposity Index (BAI), Body Roundness Index (BRI) and Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR), in order to have better body fat indexes than the Body Mass Index (BMI). Thus, the present research aims to analyze the relationship between the various body indexes and the total fat mass (FM) and FM of the trunk in the elderly. Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, 129 people (87 women and 42 men) aged 60 to 84 were evaluated through dual energy radiological densitometry, to obtain the FM measurements, and anthropometric measurements, for subsequent calculation of the indexes. Subsequently, correlation analysis were performed between the total percentage of FM and the total percentage of fat mass of the trunk and the body indexes. Linear, simple and multiple regressions were performed to verify the association between the indexes and the percentage of total FM. Data analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 25.0. Results: In women ABSI was not associated with either total or trunk FM. Regarding the remaining indexes, all of the indexes were associated with the adiposity assessed by DXA (total: r> 0.649; trunk r> 0.520). The index with a greater explanatory power was the BMI (r = 0.798) for the total FM and the WHtR (r = 0.783) for the FM of the trunk. In men, all indexes were associated with either the total FM (r> 0.427) or the FM of the trunk (r> 0.463). For the total FM (r = 0.742) and for the trunk FM (R = 0.713) the WHtR presented a greater explanation of the fat mass of DXA. It should be noted, however, that there were no significant differences between the indexes and that the associations remained similar when adjusted for the appendicular fat-free mass index. Conclusions: BMI, despite the limitations that the index demonstrates, presents similar or even better associations than new body indexes to estimate total and trunk adiposity in the elderly.Objetivo: Nos últimos anos foram desenvolvidos novos índices corporais, como o índice da forma do corpo (ABSI), o índice de adiposidade corporal (BAI), o índice de arredondamento do corpo (BRI) e o rácio cintura para estatura (WHtR), com vista a ter indicadores de gordura corporal melhores que o índice de massa corporal (IMC). Deste modo, a presente investigação tem como objetivo analisar a relação entre os vários índices corporais e a massa gorda (MG) total e do tronco em pessoas idosas. Métodos: Neste estudo observacional transversal, foram avaliadas 129 pessoas (87 mulheres e 42 homens) com idades entre 60 e 84, através da densitometria radiológica de dupla energia, para obter as medidas de MG, e de medições antropométricas, para posterior cálculo dos índices. Posteriormente realizaram-se análises de correlação entre a %MG total e do tronco e os índices corporais. Foram efetuadas regressões lineares, simples e múltiplas para verificar a associação entre os índices e a percentagem de MG total. A analise de dados foi feita usando o IBM SPSS Statistics versão 25.0. Resultados: Nas mulheres o ABSI não se associou nem com a MG total nem com a do tronco. Relativamente aos restantes índices todos estavam associados com a adiposidade avaliada pela DXA (total: r>0.649; tronco r>0.520). O índice com um maior poder explicativo foi o IMC (r=0.798) para a MG total e o WHtR (r=0.783) para a MG do tronco. Nos homens todos os índices estavam associados quer com a MG total (r>0.427) quer com a MG do tronco (r>0.463). Quer para a MG total (r=0.742) quer para a do tronco (R=0.713) o WHtR apresentou maior explicação da MG do DXA. É contudo de realçar que não existiram diferenças de relevo entre os índices e que as associações se mantinham semelhantes quando ajustadas para o índice de massa isenta de gordura apendicular. Conclusões: Apesar das limitações reportadas na literatura o IMC apresenta associações semelhantes, ou até melhores, que novos índices corporais para estimar a adiposidade total e do tronco em pessoas idosas

Anthropometry: An R Package for Analysis of Anthropometric Data

The development of powerful new 3D scanning techniques has enabled the generation of large up-to-date anthropometric databases which provide highly valued data to improve the ergonomic design of products adapted to the user population. As a consequence, Ergonomics and Anthropometry are two increasingly quantitative fields, so advanced statistical methodologies and modern software tools are required to get the maximum benefit from anthropometric data. This paper presents a new R package, called Anthropometry, which is available on the Comprehensive R Archive Network. It brings together some statistical methodologies concerning clustering, statistical shape analysis, statistical archetypal analysis and the statistical concept of data depth, which have been especially developed to deal with anthropometric data. They are proposed with the aim of providing effective solutions to some common anthropometric problems, such as clothing design or workstation design (focusing on the particular case of aircraft cockpits). The utility of the package is shown by analyzing the anthropometric data obtained from a survey of the Spanish female population performed in 2006 and from the 1967 United States Air Force survey. This manuscript is also contained in Anthropometry as a vignette

Quantifying obesity from anthropometric measures and body volume data

Obesity has become a serious problem in several developed and developing countries. Three-dimensional photonic scanning (3DPS) is a useful tool to obtain accurate anthropometric measures and body volume data for body shape quantification. Some traditional models have been developed to estimate body fat percentages from anthropometric measures or body volume data for body composition classification and obesity quantification. However, these traditional models are very sensitive to the errors in anthropometric measures and body volume data. Small errors in anthropometric measures or body volume data reduces accuracy of body fat percentages estimated from 3DPS and may lead to misclassifications when quantifying levels of obesity. In this study, pattern recognition techniques, neural networks, were applied to develop a new model which can classify obesity levels from a combination of anthropometric measures and body volume data without estimating body fat percentages. The developed model and the traditional models were applied to determine 2209 male participants’ body composition classes for obesity quantification. The accuracy of the new and the traditional models was determined by comparing the estimated body composition classes with the real body composition classes obtained from dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scanning output. The results showed that the accuracy of the developed model was better than the traditional models. Therefore, the developed model provides more accurate results in body composition classification for obesity quantification

Differences in the os coxae between blacks and whites : a musculoskeletal approach to human variation

Literature review of the anatomical and sports and exercise science journals presented evidence of musculature size and/or distribution differences between blacks and whites. Based on a specific autopsy research finding of increased cross-sectional area of the psoas major muscle in blacks when compared to whites and an understanding of the relationship between the pelvic musculature and the os coxa, a hypothesis was presented that the os coxae of black individuals will display greater depth and/or distance measurements along select points of the anterior border and iliac fossa while taking into account group size differences in the os coxa.To test the hypothesis, the os coxae of 102 modem males (41 black, 61 white)from five separate donated and forensic collections were analyzed for racial differences.Nineteen length and depth measurements of the anterior border and iliac fossa were taken, and eight indices computed, and subjected to t-tests on the means. Additionally,overall os coxa shape differences of the nineteen measured variables were evaluated by examining the total canonical structure produced by discriminant function analysis.The statistical results of this study reflect both size and shape differences in the oscoxa between blacks and whites. A statistically significant size increase was found in white males for fourteen of the nineteen variables. Of the remaining variables, four out of five all lay in the central portion of the os coxa where the iliopsoas muscle passes over the anterior pelvic brim beneath the inguinal ligament.To obtain an optimal model for group separation, the variables and indices were then subjected to variable selection procedures. Four variables were chosen as optimal group discriminators. These variables emphasized the greater distances in white between the anterior superior and inferior iliac spines, the anterior superior iliac spine endpoint iliac auricular—a point on the ilium where the iliac tuberosity, fossa and auricular surface meet, the greater depth of the iliac fossa as projected from the anterior superioriliac spine and point ilioauricular, and the lesser depth of the notch between the anterior superior and inferior iliac spines when compared to blacks.The four-variable model was then subjected to two separate methods of functional analysis—discriminant function analysis and logistic regression—and the cross-validation classification of the two models compared for accuracy. Evaluation of the discriminant function resulted in an overall classification of 82.9% of individuals, and the logistic regression model, 83.3%

Biomechanics of foetal movement.

© 2015, AO Research Institute. All rights reserved.Foetal movements commence at seven weeks of gestation, with the foetal movement repertoire including twitches, whole body movements, stretches, isolated limb movements, breathing movements, head and neck movements, jaw movements (including yawning, sucking and swallowing) and hiccups by ten weeks of gestational age. There are two key biomechanical aspects to gross foetal movements; the first being that the foetus moves in a dynamically changing constrained physical environment in which the freedom to move becomes increasingly restricted with increasing foetal size and decreasing amniotic fluid. Therefore, the mechanical environment experienced by the foetus affects its ability to move freely. Secondly, the mechanical forces induced by foetal movements are crucial for normal skeletal development, as evidenced by a number of conditions and syndromes for which reduced or abnormal foetal movements are implicated, such as developmental dysplasia of the hip, arthrogryposis and foetal akinesia deformation sequence. This review examines both the biomechanical effects of the physical environment on foetal movements through discussion of intrauterine factors, such as space, foetal positioning and volume of amniotic fluid, and the biomechanical role of gross foetal movements in human skeletal development through investigation of the effects of abnormal movement on the bones and joints. This review also highlights computational simulations of foetal movements that attempt to determine the mechanical forces acting on the foetus as it moves. Finally, avenues for future research into foetal movement biomechanics are highlighted, which have potential impact for a diverse range of fields including foetal medicine, musculoskeletal disorders and tissue engineering