Background: Body composition, health and physical performance are closely related. The most accurate and reliable method for measuring subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) thickness is the recently developed and standardised brightness mode ultrasound (US) technique; however, the application of this method has not been tested in overweight and obese people before. The aims of this thesis were: (a) to contribute to the methodical developments of the standardised US technique by testing the applicability of the method in overweight and obese persons, by investigating the skin thicknesses at the eight standardised sites, and by comparing mean SAT thicknesses of eight sites to means of 216 randomly distributed sites. (b) to conduct intra-observer reliability tests in all groups from lean to obese. (c) to analyse the participants' body composition characteristics in terms of fat patterning, amounts of fibrous structures embedded in the SAT, and correlations of SAT with anthropometric indices. Methods: The 82 men and 71 women investigated covered a wide range of SAT thicknesses, and BMI ranged from 17 to 40 kgm-2. The image evaluation software enabled semi-automatic multiple thickness measurements in SAT and quantification of the embedded fibrous structures (fasciae). US measurements were made in accordance with the standardised method at the eight sites: upper abdomen (UA), lower abdomen (LA), erector spinae (ES), distal triceps (DT), brachioradialis (BR), lateral thigh (LT), front thigh (FT) and medial calf (MC). The previously used site external oblique (EO) was replaced by LT. Additionally, in a subset of ten participants, SAT thickness measurements were performed at 216 randomly distributed sites. Skin thicknesses were also measured. Obtainable accuracy of US measurements ranged from about 0.1 mm (at 18 MHz probe frequency) to about 0.3 mm (at 6MHz). Results: The site EO caused major problems in overweight and obese persons, therefore, the new site LT was introduced instead. Mean skin thicknesses were significantly higher in men compared to women at all sites, except for ES, and the thicknesses were also significantly different at all sites (p
ULTRASOUND MEASUREMENT OF SUBCUTANEOUS ADIPOSE TISSUE THICKNESS: METHODICAL IMPROVEMENTS, INTRA-OBSERVER RELIABILITY IN OVERWEIGHT AND OBESE PERSONS, AND FAT PATTERNING ANALYSES
Störchle, P. (Author). 2020
Student thesis: Doctoral thesis