A Smartphone Application for Personal Assessments of Body Composition and Phenotyping

Abstract

Personal assessments of body phenotype can enhance success in weight management but are limited by the lack of availability of practical methods. We describe a novel smart phone application of digital photography (DP) and determine its validity to estimate fat mass (FM). This approach utilizes the percent (%) occupancy of an individual lateral whole-body digital image and regions indicative of adipose accumulation associated with increased risk of cardio-metabolic disease. We measured 117 healthy adults (63 females and 54 males aged 19 to 65 years) with DP and dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and report here the development and validation of this application. Inter-observer variability of the determination of % occupancy was 0.02%. Predicted and reference FM values were significantly related in females (R2 = 0.949, SEE = 2.83) and males (R2 = 0.907, SEE = 2.71). Differences between predicted and measured FM values were small (0.02 kg, p = 0.96 and 0.07 kg, p = 0.96) for females and males, respectively. No significant bias was found; limits of agreement ranged from 5.6 to −5.4 kg for females and from 5.6 to −5.7 kg for males. These promising results indicate that DP is a practical and valid method for personal body composition assessments.

Digital anthropometry: a critical review

“…24 Additionally, efforts have been made to predict body volume and body composition from 2D smartphone images. 25, 26 Fat mass predicted from height, weight, and measures obtained by a single 2D side view were not significantly different than fat mass measured by DXA. 25…”

“…25, 26 Fat mass predicted from height, weight, and measures obtained by a single 2D side view were not significantly different than fat mass measured by DXA. 25…”

Utilizing a Novel 2D Image Processing System for Relating Body Composition Metrics to Performance in Collegiate Female Rowers

“…In addition, when the body volume estimates were combined with total body water measures from bioimpedance spectroscopy for a “field-based” three-compartment model, there were very large correlations (r = 0.96 to 0.99) with the laboratory method for FM and FFM [ 10 ]. Moreover, Farina et al [ 26 ] showed no significant differences, strong relationships (R 2 = 0.91 to 0.95), and a small standard error of estimate values (±2.71 to 2.83 kg) when comparing FM estimates from a different 2D body composition program to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. It should be noted that the 2D image system of Farina et al [ 26 ] predicts body volume from the number of pixels comprised by a person’s body within an image.…”

“…Moreover, Farina et al [ 26 ] showed no significant differences, strong relationships (R 2 = 0.91 to 0.95), and a small standard error of estimate values (±2.71 to 2.83 kg) when comparing FM estimates from a different 2D body composition program to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. It should be noted that the 2D image system of Farina et al [ 26 ] predicts body volume from the number of pixels comprised by a person’s body within an image. This is a different process than the 2D technique of the current study and Fedewa et al [ 10 ], which estimates body composition by the width of various anatomical dimensions within the image.…”

High‐Resolution Three‐Dimensional Photonic Scan‐Derived Equations Improve Body Surface Area Prediction in Diverse Populations

“…The Hamamatsu technology and other similar high‐resolution scanning technologies have limited availability because of cost. Consequently, there has been a recent surge in the development of laser‐based imaging technologies and associated applications driven largely by the demand for devices that estimate body composition and body shape easily and for personalized health assessments in weight management. The devices currently being marketed have lower resolution and sensitivity compared with the 3DPS scanner reported here.…”