VALIDITY OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL PHOTONIC SCANNING TECHNIQUE FOR ESTIMATING PERCENT BODY FAT
Background:Three-dimensional photonic scanning (3DPS) was recently developed to measuredimensions of a human body surface. Objective:The purpose of this study was to explore the validity of bodyvolume measured by 3DPS for estimating the percent body fat (%fat). Design, setting, participants, andmeasurement:The body volumes were determined by 3DPS in 52 women. The body volume was corrected forresidual lung volume. The %fat was estimated from body density and compared with the corresponding referencevalue determined by the dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Results:No significant difference was foundfor the mean values of %fat obtained by 3DPS (22.2 ± 7.6%) and DXA (23.5 ± 4.9%). The root mean squareerror of %fat between 3DPS and reference technique was 6.0%. For each body segment, there was a significantpositive correlation between 3DPS- and DXA-values, although the corresponding value for the head was slightlylarger in 3DPS than in DXA. Residual lung volume was negatively correlated with the estimated error in %fat.Conclusions:The body volume determined with 3DPS is potentially useful for estimating %fat. A possiblestrategy for enhancing the measurement accuracy of %fat might be to refine the protocol for preparing thesubject’s hair prior to scanning and to improve the accuracy in the measurement of residual lung volume.