Obesity Medicine | 2019
Evaluation of body composition parameters using various diagnostic methods: A meta analysis study
Abstract
Abstract Aim The systematic study aims to provide a brief summary of existing techniques and technological advances used for measuring the body composition in an individual. Methods 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. Results 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\u202fmm and 31.75\u202fmm 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\u202fcm3. Conclusion 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.