Measurement Of Subcutaneous Fat Thickness Research Articles

Use of Ultrasound in the Measurement of Subcutaneous Fat and Prediction of Total Body Fat in Dogs

An ultrasonographic unit (A-scan mode) has been evaluated as a noninvasive method for estimating body fat in 25 dogs. Six anatomical sites were defined and subcutaneous fat thickness was measured by means of ultrasound and histology. Total body fat was subsequently calculated in 12 dogs. There was a high correlation between histology and ultrasound for the measurement of subcutaneous fat (r = 0.81; P less than 0.001). Total body fat was successfully predicted using measurements taken with ultrasound at the lumbar area (r = 0.87; P less than 0.001). Measurements of subcutaneous fat thickness from other anatomical sites did not estimate body fat with the same accuracy. These results suggest that ultrasound can reliably measure subcutaneous fat in dogs and that these measurements, when taken from the mid lumbar area, can be used to predict total body fat.

Assessment of fetal well-being with magnetic resonance

The application of magnetic resonance techniques in the assessment of fetal growth, fetal growth patterns and fetal health was assessed. Eighty-four sets of fetal images were obtained using a fast-scan magnetic resonance imaging technique. Measurements were made of fetal subcutaneous fat thickness, uterine cavity length and width, fetal and uterine cross-sectional areas and fetal volume. Fetal area and fetal volume measurements were found to correlate well with birth weight. Measurement of subcutaneous fat thickness may prove to be a means of differentiating between those fetuses who are constitutionally as opposed to pathologically large or small. Thirteen women had additional spectroscopic studies carried out. Twelve of the women had normal pregnancies. One woman had a twin pregnancy in which one twin died. 31P phosphorus spectra were obtained from seven of the normal pregnancies. In the remainder, the depth of the abdominal wall prevented spectra being obtained from the placenta. Differences in phosphorus metabolites were obtained from the placenta of the dead twin compared to those from the healthy pregnancies.

Effect of Cimaterol implants on lamb growth and carcass traits

Abstract In a series of experiments, involving 372 lambs over 2 years, the effects of subcutaneous implants of Cimaterol (CL263, 780; anthranilonitrile, 5-[1-hydroxy-2-(isoproplyamino)ethyl]-), in young sheep grazing pasture were examined. Treatment with Cimaterol increased carcass weight gain by 37% averaged over the experiments. Wool growth was reduced by 16% in the experiments where it was measured. Cimaterol treatment also increased dressing percentages by 1.3-3.7 percentage units, increased the cross-sectional area of L. dorsi muscle, and decreased fat depot weights and subcutaneous fat thickness measurements in all experiments. These changes were accompanied by increased protein and water contents and a decreased fat content in the carcass. Analysis of the growth rates of carcass components revealed that the changes were a consequence of marked increases in the rates of carcass protein deposition (up to c. 3-fold) in Cimaterol-treated lambs accompanied by markedly reduced rates of lipid deposition. ...

Accessibility of B-mode ultrasonic measurement of subcutaneous fat thickness to the 22 sites needed for clothing design.

Information about subcutaneous fat distribution over the entire body is important for clothing design as applied anthropology. The measurement of subcutaneous fat thickness by ultrasonic tomogram overcomes the limitations of skinfold calipers measurement, but its accessibility varies depending on easiness of identifying the fat-muscle interface at the measuring sites. This study examined accessibility of ultrasonic tomograms at 22 body sites in 58 young adult females.Individual differences in the tomographic image at such sites as the triceps, plural echoes from the fat layer at such sites as the trochanter, and the dead time regionat such sites as the wrist, make the identification difficult. The 22 sites were classified into three groups according to their accessibility to measurement. Seventeen sites were confirmed to be measurable, including the sites such as the buttock and thigh whichare indispensable to the study of the apparent characteristics of the human body and obesity/leanness as a basis for the designing of comfortable clothing. The sites such as posterior neck and posterior sulcus were not considered to be accessible.

Measurement of subcutaneous fat thickness with high frequency pulsed ultrasound: comparisons with a caliper and a radiographic technique

This paper reports the use of a 10 MHz pulsed A-scan ultrasound system to measure the thickness of subcutaneous fat and its comparison with two other established techniques. Measurements using both ultrasound and Harpenden's skin calipers were made on the abdomen, over the scapula region, over the triceps and on the front of the thigh. Computerised axial tomography (CAT) was also used to obtain measurements of subcutaneous fat over the abdomen. In most instances the different techniques were significantly correlated. The ultrasound method showed non-dependency or bias upon the size of measurement when compared with the other two techniques. In addition, the ultrasound method was considered more accurate, reproducible and sensitive compared with the caliper technique and much more convenient than CAT scanning. However, the presence of septa at some sites in the more obese subjects was revealed by CAT scanning and made ultrasound assessment at these sites more difficult.

Evaluation of live and carcass techniques for predicting beef carcass composition

Fifty beef animals varying in size, age and composition were used to determine the most accurate methods for determining beef composition. Separable and chemical composition of the 9–10–11th rib section and measurements of subcutaneous fat thickness were the most useful for explaining observed variability in carcass composition. For predicting percentage fat in fed steers, composition of the 9–10–11th rib section was the most accurate [coefficient of determination (R 2 0·85)]. The 9–10–11th rib section was the most accurate and precise technique identified in this study to estimate beef carcass composition across and within all age classes. Specific gravity accounted for 68% of the variation in percentage of carcass fat across all age classes combined; however, specific gravity did not account for a significant portion of the variation within each age class. Deuterium oxide dilution was able to account for 77% of the variation in chemical fat percentage across all age classes combined; however, deuterium oxide dilution was not as effective in accounting for the observed variation in fat percentage within each age class. Ultrasound was found to be an accurate live measure of chemical fat percentage within all age classes combined.

35 CHANGES IN BODY COMPOSITION DURING GROWTH HORMONE THERAPY IN CHILDREN WITH GROWTH HORMONE DEFICIENCY

Ten children with documented Growth Hormone Deficiency had their body composition determined before and during Human Growth Hormone treatment. Body composition was determined by underwater weighing and selected measures of subcutaneous fat thickness. The measurements were obtained before the onset of Human Growth Hormone therapy and subsequently every 6 months during the treatment. During the first 6 months of treatment, most patient's demonstrated an increase in body fat without significant increase in lean body mass. During the second 6 months and subsequent periods of treatment, a decrease in body fat and increase in lean body mass was observed in most of the patients. These data tend to indicate that for children receiving Human Growth Hormone therapy changes in body composition are not uniform. Body fat appears to increase in the first 6 months and lean body mass increases during subsequent periods of treatment. This research was supported by a Seed Money Grant from Wright State University. Human Growth Hormone was received from National Pituitary Agency.

The Use of B-Mode Ultrasound for Measuring Subcutaneous Fat Thickness on the Upper Arms

Abstract A study was carried out to investigate the potential use of B-mode ultrasound for measuring subcutaneous fat thickness at two arm sites. Data from two similar groups of college students (n = 64) were collected for the following purposes: (1) to determine at each of two separate arm sites if a single measurement of subcutaneous fat taken in the middle of a 8 mm cross-sectional sonogram was similar to the average of three fat measurements taken equidistantly across the same 8 mm sonogram, (2) to assess the reliability of B-mode fat sonograms repeated within 30 min, and (3) to examine the association between B-mode sonograms and skinfold assessments of subcutaneous fat. Measurements were separately made in the areas of the biceps brachii and the triceps brachii. For both standardized arm sites, it was concluded that the use of a single ultrasonically determined measurement of subcutaneous fat thickness was as appropriate as using the average of several thicknesses taken from a single B-mode sonogram...

The effects of various post-mortem treatments on certain physical and sensory properties of three different bovine muscles

Sixty crossbred steers with chronological ages approximating 15 months, carcass weights approximating 270 kg and subcutaneous fat thickness measurements approximating 1·2 cm, were maintained for approximately 210 days on a constantly increasing concentrate ration (13 to 75%, according to NAS nutrient requirements for beef cattle; NAS, 1976). These animals were utilized to evaluate the effects of delayed chilling, hot-boning and electrical stimulation on certain physical, histological, biochemical and sensory properties of three different muscles ( Semimembranosus, SM; Longissimus dorsi, LD; and Triceps brachii, TB). Results indicated that neither delayed chilling nor electrical stimulation produced consistent meaningful alterations in any of the physical, cooking or palatability attributes evaluated. However, early post-mortem excision of muscle (hot-boning) consistently produced toughening in all of the muscles evaluated. This was observed to a much greater degree in the TB than in either the SM or LD. Based upon sarcomere length determinations, such toughening could be attributed to cold shortening only in the TB. Electrical stimulation of excised muscle was ineffective in preventing or offsetting this toughening. The delayed chilling treatment imposed (2 h at 12·5°C) was ineffective in enhancing potential effects of electrical stimulation on tenderness.

Compressibility of skinfolds and the measurement of subcutaneous fatness

Compressibility of subcutaneous fat thickness when measured with skinfold calipers was investigated in 65 white American youths. Compression of skinfolds was determined relative to measurements of subcutaneous fat thickness from radiographs at each of seven sites. There is statistically significant heterogeneity among sites in skinfold compression, with skinfolds on the medial and lateral calf being the least compressible of those measured. There is little statistically significant sex difference in skinfold compression in the present sample and, within the range concerned, there were no significant correlations between skinfold compressibility and age. When compressibilities of the seven skinfolds were intercorrelated within individuals, statistically significant average correlations were obtained, indicating that individuals tend toward similar degrees of skinfold compressibility among sites. This communality of skinfold compression within individuals is such that, at least in male youth, there are significant differences among individuals in the average compressibility of the seven skinfolds.

FATNESS, RATE OF CHILLING AND TENDERNESS OF LAMB

ABSTRACT40 lambs were selected to vary in amount of finish for use in determining the mechanism by which fatness affects tenderness. Lambs with thick (n = 10), intermediate (n = 20) or thin (n = 10) finish were slaughtered, chilled at 1 ± 1°C and samples obtained from three muscles for chemical, histological, physical and organoleptic analyses. Subcutaneous fat was removed from one side of each carcass in the intermediate finish group to facilitate comparisons on a within‐carcass basis. The data suggest that lamb carcasses which have increased quantities of fat (subjectively determined via live evaluations of finish or objectively determined via subcutaneous fat thickness measurements and marbling scores): (a) chill more slowly; (b) maintain muscle temperatures conducive to autolytic enzyme degradation for greater periods of time postmortem; (c) sustain less shortening of sarcomeres; (d) have muscles with lower ultimate pH values; (e) have less perceptible or softer connective tissue; and (f) are more tender than lamb carcasses which have limited quantities of fat. The data support the hypothesis that deposition of increased quantities of subcutaneous or intramuscular fat (particularly in carcasses with limited quantities of subcutaneous finish) increases tenderness via changes in postmortem chilling rate. An increased quantity of fat decreases the rate of temperature decline (either by insulation or via an increase in carcass mass), enhances the activity (or increases the duration of active proteolysis) of autolytic enzymes in muscle, lessens the extent of myofibrillar shortening and thereby increases the ultimate tenderness of cooked meat from a fatter carcass.

Factors Affecting Longissimus Dorsi Area and Fat Thickness of Beef and Relation between These Measurements and Retail Yield

L. dorsi muscle and subcutaneous fat measurements were taken on 1096 good and choice steer carcasses weighing from 350 to 850 lb. Muscle area increased approximately 50%, and subcutaneous fat thickness increased approximately twofold from the 350-lb. to the 850-lb. weight groups. A significant (P<.01) difference was found between right and left l. dorsi muscle area and subcutaneous fat thickness measurements from 295 carcasses ribbed in the conventional manner. No significant differences were found between right and left sides of 47 good and choice steer carcasses in respect to area of the l. dorsi muscle or subcutaneous fat thickness when the two sides were cut intact at the same anatomical location. It appears that differences which occur between right and left l. dorsi muscle area and subcutaneous fat thickness measurements are due principally to errors in ribbing. Subcutaneous fat thickness measurements were associated with two to three times as much of the variation in retail yield as were l. dorsi area measurements. L. dorsi muscle measurements were more highly associated with weight than with percent retail cuts. Conversely, subcutaneous fat thickness measurements were more highly associated with percent than with weight of retail cuts.