Non-Invasive Assessment Method Using Thoracic-Abdominal Profile Image Acquisition and Mathematical Modeling with Bezier Curves

J Clin Med. 2019 Jan 9;8(1):65. doi: 10.3390/jcm8010065.

Abstract

The study was performed at Brasov County Hospital, in the Internal Medicine, Diabetes, Gastroenterology and Cardiology Wards with the collaboration of Transylvania University of Brasov, as a study approved by the Ethical Board of the university. The study aimed at assessing the connection between the anthropometric parameters of abdominal adiposity (measured by means of an original experiment designed to determine the curvature of the thoracic-abdominal adiposity for the patients and processed by help of a mathematical model based upon Bezier curves geometry) and the fat load of the liver (assessed by ultrasound by measuring the diameters of both hepatic lobes) for the patients diagnosed with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). The existence of ten types of thoracic-abdominal curves profiles were statistically analyzed in order to evaluate in a simple manner the liver size in NAFLD. The method of diagnosis is based on an easily reproduced experiment, it is original, innovative, non-invasive, and cost-effective. Can be implemented anywhere in the world, there is no need for investment, only for determining the profile of the belly.

Keywords: Bézier curves; anthropometry; arc length; area; curvature; hepatomegaly; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; non-invasive methods; ultrasound; waist circumference.