2024 Scholars' Research Symposium Abstract: Analysis of Collegiate Athlete Body Composition Using MuscleSound Technology.

Abstract

Introduction: Body composition is studied in athletes as a means of measuring physical fitness and progression of training. Athletes can utilize body composition in multiple ways to guide training toward athlete specific goals. Several different methods exist with varying levels of cost, invasiveness, reading complexity, and availability. Ultrasound is a method which, while being affordable and portable, is limited by the training needed to properly read scans. The proposed benefit of MuscleSound is to alleviate the challenge of interpreting scans by providing a program to estimate body composition in ultrasound images. This study compared the use of MuscleSound with skinfold testing, an accepted method of body composition measurement. The hypothesis of this study was that MuscleSound® software would correlate with skinfold testing and serve as an alternative body composition method.

Methods: This study was IRB approved through Sanford Research. 35 participants were recruited from a local collegiate men's basketball team over the span of 2018-2023 at varying start points. Each athlete was weighed and measured for body composition metrics using both skinfold testing and ultrasound. Skinfold testing was performed at multiple sites of adipose collection while ultrasound scans were obtained of the rectus femoris. Skinfold testing was assessed through fat mass, skinfold thickness, body fat %, lean mass, and lean mass index while MuscleSound® was assessed through intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) % and muscle thickness (MT). Variables were divided into muscle-related and adipose-related before being compared between the two methods. For muscle-related variables, correlation analysis was performed between MT and lean mass, lean mass index, and body weight. Correlation analysis was also performed between IMAT % and fat mass, skinfold thickness, body fat %, and body weight.

Results: The MuscleSound measures were found to have varying levels of correlation to adipose-related variables and muscle-related variables. Adipose correlations included fat mass (r = 0.79, p less than 0.01), body fat % (r= 0.76, p less than 0.01), skinfold thickness (r = 0.71, p less than 0.01), and body weight (r = 0.55, p less than 0.01). Muscle-related variables had lower correlation values with MuscleSound-derived MT, which had correlation values to lean mass (r = 0.27, p greater than 0.05), lean mass index (r = 0.01, p greater than 0.05), and body weight (r = 0.25, p greater than 0.05).

Conclusions: MuscleSound presents a potential solution for ultrasound use in studying body composition. Correlation between the results from this tool and current standard values vary. Of the variables studied, IMAT% correlated best with adipose-related skinfold measurements while MT lacked correlation with muscle-related skinfold measurements. This misalignment of results suggests a potential lack of reliability with either MT obtained through MuscleSound or the muscle-related variables of skinfold testing. In either group, body weight was not well correlated with MuscleSound measurements. The affordability and portability of ultrasound makes it a useful method in studying body composition. MuscleSound presents a unique opportunity to increase accessibility, however, should be used with a focus on adipose tissue when studying body composition.