Exploration of Human Ageing by 3D-Laser Scanning Anthropometry

Abstract

Three-dimensional whole body scanning is an emerging technology for anthropometric assessment in epidemiological studies. We recently analysed 3D whole body scanning data of nearly 10,000 participants collected from the adult population of Leipzig. We were able to aggregate the body measures provided by the scanner into meta-measures, each representing one relevant dimension of the body shape, and to identify distinguishable clusters of body shapes. In the next step, we now study specifics of the so-called body types upon ageing to understand how meta-measures change during ageing. Further we investigate the distribution of participants in the body types with regard to stratification by age and gender. It becomes clear, that age significantly influences body shape, embodied by characteristic changes of the meta-measures representing systematic shifts in body proportions upon ageing, and by a marked developmental trajectory of body typing.

Longitudinal anthropometry of children and adolescents using 3D-body scanning

“…The LIFE Child study is one of the largest longitudinal studies with an extensive phenotyping of urban children and adolescents in Germany [ 6 , 7 ]. Based on the data collected, we recently developed new shape indices called body types, which have the potential to predict health outcomes [ 8 – 10 ]. These body types associate with specific weight and age ranges (see Table 1 ), where ‘younger’, `medium age’ and `older’ body types emerge and outgrow in successive order.…”