Accessibility of B-mode Ultrasonic Measurement of Subcutaneous Fat Thickness to the 22 Sites Needed for Clothing Design

Abstract

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 region"at 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.