Objectives: Body surface area (SA) is a widely used physical measure incorporated into multiple thermophysiology and evolutionary biology models currently estimated in humans either with empirical prediction equations or costly whole-body laser imaging systems. The introduction of low-cost 3D scanners provides a new opportunity to quantify total body (TB) and regional SA, although a critical question prevails: can these devices acquire the quality of depth information and process this initial data to form a mesh that has the fidelity needed to generate accurate SA estimates?
Materials and methods: This question was answered by comparing SA estimates calculated using images from four commercial 3D scanners in 108 adults to corresponding estimates acquired with a whole-body laser system. This was accomplished by processing initial mesh data from all devices, including the laser system, with the same universal software adapted specifically for repairing mesh gaps, identifying landmarks, and generating SA measurements.
Results: TB SA measured on all four 3D scanners was highly correlated with corresponding laser system estimates (R2 s, 0.98-0.99; all p < 0.001) with some small but significant mean differences (-0.19 to 0.06 m2 ); root-mean square errors (RMSEs) were small (0.02-0.03 m2 ); and significant bias was present for one device. Qualitatively similar results (e.g., R2 s, 0.78-0.95; mean Δs, -0.05 to 0.02 m2 ; RMSEs, 0.01-0.03 m2 ) were present for trunk, arm, and leg SA comparisons.
Discussion: The current study observations demonstrate that low-cost and practical 3D optical scanners are capable of accurately quantifying TB and regional SA, thus opening new opportunities for evaluating human phenotypes and related physiological characteristics.
Keywords: heat production; metabolism; phenotype; thermophysiology, body shape.
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