Estimating percentage total body fat and determining subcutaneous adipose tissue distribution with a new noninvasive optical device LIPOMETER

A newly developed optical device was applied to measure the subcutaneous ad ipose tissue (SAT) thickness of 20 healthy women and 18 healthy men at spec ified body sites. These measurements were used to derive equations to estim ate percentage total body fat (TBF%). Total body electrical conductivity (T OBEC) was employed as a reference method; caliper techniques and measuremen ts of absorbances of infrared light in fat versus lean tissue were also com pared. The LIPOMETER results show good agreement with TOBEC data(r = 0.96). The technique allows the precise determination of the distribution of SAT thickness at specified body sites. The method also permits the construction of profiles of SAT thicknesses, e.g., the profiles are significantly diffe rent between women and men. Based on the normal profiles of healthy subject s, patients with proven type-a diabetes mellitus were also evaluated. The p atients showed significantly different profiles. By linear discriminant ana lysis, classification functions were extracted with good predictive accurac y classification of subjects according to the presence or absence of type-2 diabetes mellitus. The data suggest that measurement of SAT thickness migh t aid in the diagnosis and/or classification of metabolic disorders. (C) 20 00 Wiley-Liss, Inc.