A new air displacement method for the determination of human body composition
Abstract
A new device based on the plethysmographic measurement of body volume has been developed for the purpose of estimating human body composition. The device, the BOD POD Body Composition System, uses the relationship between pressure and volume to derive the body volume of a subject seated inside a fiberglass chamber. Derivation of body volume, together with measurement of body mass, permits calculation of body density and subsequent estimation of percent fat and fat-free mass. Critical issues which have hampered prior plethysmographic approaches are discussed. The present system's ability to measure the volume of inanimate objects was evaluated for accuracy, reliability, and linearity. Twenty successive tests of a known volume (50,039 ml) on two separate days produced values of 50,037 +/- 12.7 ml and 50,030 +/- 13.5 ml (mean +/- SD) for each day, respectively. The CV for these series were 0.025% and 0.027%. Further testing across a wide range of volumes approximating human size (25-150 1) produced the following regression equation where y = measured volume (1) and x = actual volume (1): y = 0.9998x - 0.0274, r2 = 1.0, SEE = 0.004 1. The resultant device is likely to enhance opportunities for the quick, simple and noninvasive measurement of body composition for both research and clinical applications.
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Air displacement plethysmography, performed using the BOD POD, uses densitometry to estimate body composition.
“Air displacement plethysmography, performed using the BOD POD, uses densitometry to estimate body composition [64] (similar to SKF and HW).”
From The Utility of Body Composition Assessment in Nutrition and Clinical Practice: An Overview of Current Methodology (2021) · cites this paper as [64]
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“Absolute (kg) and relative (percentage) fat mass and fat-free mass were assessed via air displacement plethysmography (BodPod®, Life Measurements, Concord, CA, USA) following the methodology described elsewhere (Wenger 1993; Dempster and Aitkens 1995).”
- Authors
- DEMPSTER, P., & AITKENS, S.
- Venue
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
- Published
- 1995-12
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1692???1697
- ISSN
- 0195-9131 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2046886748
- Cited by
- 678
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 2.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (2r44dk042396-02, 1r43dk042396-01)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R44DK42396, R43DK42396)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Body Contouring and Surgery
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Non-Invasive Vital Sign Monitoring
- Keywords
- body composition, air displacement plethysmography, BOD POD, body volume measurement, body density, fat-free mass, pressure-volume relationship, measurement accuracy and reliability
- MeSH terms
- Adipose Tissue, Air, Body Composition, Body Constitution, Body Weight, Equipment Design, Glass, Humans, Plethysmography, Pressure, Regression Analysis, Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted, Reproducibility of Results, Body Mass Index, Linear Models
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