Inter‐device concordance of Veggie Meter—A reflection spectroscopy to measure skin carotenoids

Abstract

The Veggie Meter® (VM) is a refraction spectrometer that detects skin carotenoids. We tested the variability of the two modes (single‐scan and averaging modes) of four VMs of three different versions (VM‐1, 2, 3, 4) with 92 healthy volunteers. Both the modes exhibited a high intra‐class correlation coefficient (ICC); however, the averaging mode had a significantly lower coefficient of variance than the single‐scan mode. The Bland–Altman analysis showed a systematic error between VM‐1 and other three VMs. The actual errors between the VM‐1 and the other three VMs in the averaging mode were 7.4%, 10.4%, and 11.8% of the median of VM scores, but the errors could be reduced to 2.8%, 6.3%, and 7.0% by compensating VM scores using the regression equations. Averaging mode had higher accuracy than single‐scan mode. The reliability of the VMs was validated by the small coefficient of variation and high ICC. The error was improved using linear regression compensation.

Association between atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease score and skin carotenoid levels estimated via refraction spectroscopy in the Japanese population: a cross-sectional study

“…The VM scores were determined as the average of three consecutive measurements. The obtained VM scores were converted to values with our standard VM (version 1.0., serial number, 415W0156-1) using the regression equation of our previous study 34 , and compensated values were used for analyses.…”

Perspective: Promoting Healthy Aging through Nutrition: A Research Centers Collaborative Network Workshop Report

“…This and other limitations of diet questionnaires can be overcome by using objective approaches, which are becoming more feasible with advancing technology. Spectrometry-based devices, such as the Veggie Meter (Longevity Link Corporation, Salt Lake City, Utah), can enable brief, inexpensive, and noninvasive assessment of dermal carotenoid concentrations, which reflect fruit and vegetable intake, from the fat pad of a finger [ 37 , 38 ] and has been validated in racially and ethnically diverse groups [ 38 ]. Photo-based approaches have gained popularity and can improve the accuracy of conventional dietary assessment tools [ 39 ].…”