Acceptability, Precision and Accuracy of 3D Photonic Scanning for Measurement of Body Shape in a Multi-Ethnic Sample of Children Aged 5-11 Years: The SLIC Study

Abstract

BackgroundInformation on body size and shape is used to interpret many aspects of physiology, including nutritional status, cardio-metabolic risk and lung function. Such data have traditionally been obtained through manual anthropometry, which becomes time-consuming when many measurements are required. 3D photonic scanning (3D-PS) of body surface topography represents an alternative digital technique, previously applied successfully in large studies of adults. The acceptability, precision and accuracy of 3D-PS in young children have not been assessed.MethodsWe attempted to obtain data on girth, width and depth of the chest and waist, and girth of the knee and calf, manually and by 3D-PS in a multi-ethnic sample of 1484 children aged 5–11 years. The rate of 3D-PS success, and reasons for failure, were documented. Precision and accuracy of 3D-PS were assessed relative to manual measurements using the methods of Bland and Altman.ResultsManual measurements were successful in all cases. Although 97.4% of children agreed to undergo 3D-PS, successful scans were only obtained in 70.7% of these. Unsuccessful scans were primarily due to body movement, or inability of the software to extract shape outputs. The odds of scan failure, and the underlying reason, differed by age, size and ethnicity. 3D-PS measurements tended to be greater than those obtained manually (p<0.05), however ranking consistency was high (r2>0.90 for most outcomes).Conclusions3D-PS is acceptable in children aged ≥5 years, though with current hardware/software, and body movement artefacts, approximately one third of scans may be unsuccessful. The technique had poorer technical success than manual measurements, and had poorer precision when the measurements were viable. Compared to manual measurements, 3D-PS showed modest average biases but acceptable limits of agreement for large surveys, and little evidence that bias varied substantially with size. Most of the issues we identified could be addressed through further technological development.

Body Asymmetries in Young Male Road Cyclists

“…A construction and comparison of composite shape models represents an additional advantage of 3D scanning. This advantage could be utilized in a wide variety of digital shape outputs that can extend to 2D or 3D format with an electronic archiving of scans, which could be utilized in future analysis with improved software (Wells et al, 2015). After reviewing the literature, the 3D scanning method has been rarely used in cycling (Bullas et al, 2014;Daanen et al, 2016), but it has been frequently used in other sports (Schranz et al, 2010;Simenko & Vodicar, 2015) and other fields (Treleaven & Wells, 2007;Sims et al, 2012;Wells et al).…”

Reliability and Validity of NX-16 3D Body Scanner

“…With advancement of technology and application of 3D body scanners, methods for obtaining anthropometric body data have become more practical, contactless, fast and, above all, accurate (Simmons & Istook, 2003;Zhang et al, 2014;Ryder & Ball, 2012;Bragança et al). The 3D scanning methods were frequently used in textile industry (Apeagyei, 2010;Troynikov & Ashayeri, 2011), in sports (Schranz et al, 2010;Simenko & Vodicar, 2015), in healthcare Sims et al, 2012) and national surveys of general population (Wells et al, 2015). Some advantages of the 3D scanning represent a rapid raw data collection, a wide variety of digital shape outputs that can extend to 2D or 3D format, an electronic archiving of scans, which could be utilized in future analysis with improved software, a construction and comparison of composite shape models etc.…”

“…Some advantages of the 3D scanning represent a rapid raw data collection, a wide variety of digital shape outputs that can extend to 2D or 3D format, an electronic archiving of scans, which could be utilized in future analysis with improved software, a construction and comparison of composite shape models etc. (Wells et al, 2015).…”

“…Gropper et al (2012) used NX-16 3D scanner in a 4-year study of 131 college students with regards to changes of weight, composition and shape. Wells et al (2015) used classical anthropometry and the NX-16 3D body scanner (TC2, Cary, NC) to measure and obtain data of chest and waist girth, width and depth, and knee and calf girths on a sample of 1484 children aged 5-11 years. They reported that all manual measurements were successful, while 3D scans were successful in only 70.7 % of children.…”

“…However, we are to conclude that they used the NX-16 scanner in an uncontrolled environment, because of transportation, placement and use of the NX-16 3D body scanner in a customized trailer, which was driven to a series of schools in order to collect data during school hours. Wells et al (2015) did not report on the data about calibration, which are very important, since according to the manufacturer manual (Ng, 2009), every new installation of the scanner requires a full calibration. This is especially important, since there is no guarantee that a trailer was parked on a perfectly even terrain and due to the fact that the NX-16 is not a mobile model.…”