BodyMetrix Ultrasound Body Fat and Composition test The Body Metrix Ultrasound Body Fat and Composition scan gives you a clear picture of what your body composition is. “Starting a weight loss program without measurements is like planning a trip without a start address. I guarantee you will regret it later. Don’t fly blind!”
The Ultrasound tool by Body Metrix is non-invaseive, does not require pinching and it’s not sensitive to hydration, exercise level, and caffeine intake. It goes beyond Body Fat %. You can measure and track fat and muscle thickness to more accurately monitor the effects of nutition and training. For those of you wanting to look better, feel better, perform better and/or you goals.
The BodyMetrix System combines a hand-held ultrasound wand with innovative software to accurately and consistently assess and monitor your body composition. With this technology you can actually scan, see, and track fat loss and muscle gain. Before the BodyMetrix System, the only way to accurately track fat loss and muscle gain was with large and expensive x-ray CT and MRI machines.
The BodyMetrix System offers the same professional-grade ultrasound technology used by elite athletes and trainers. This high tech, cutting edge device allows you to quickly, easily and accurately make assessments. The BodyMetrix System does all this without embarrassing or painful pinching.
Assessment with the BodyMetrix System:
Track weight loss, change in body fat %, circumference measurement changes, and fat loss in specific areas. The data is available in visual charts and spread sheets.
Body Fat % Body Scans (Tracking Fat Loss & Muscle Gain) Point-Specific Measurement Thickness Record Circumference Measurements WHR (Waist-to-Hip Ratio) BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) BMI (Body Mass Index) Relative Disease Risk Lean Body Mass
Until the BodyMetrix System arrived, tracking both fat loss and muscle gain was not a task easily accomplished. In fact, the only other methods available were expensive x-ray CT and MRI scans. With the BodyMetrix you can scan a part of the body to track local fat loss and muscle gain. The recorded scans can be saved for future comparison to accurately track changes in fat and muscle thickness. This is an excellent way to show your clients that their training and diet programs are working.
Science Ultrasound Imaging Technology
Ultrasound imaging is now routinely used in a variety of clinical settings, including obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology, urology and cancer detection. There is also a growing use for ultrasound as a rapid imaging technique for diagnosis in emergency rooms. The main advantage of ultrasound is that structures inside the body can be observed without using ionizing radiation. Ultrasound can also be done much faster than x-rays or other radiographic techniques providing images in real-time. It is a non-invasive technique requiring no needles or injections. Furthermore, for standard diagnostic ultrasound imaging, there are no harmful effects on humans.
Ultrasound imaging works by using high frequency sound waves and their echoes to obtain images inside the human body. A transducer probe is used to generate the sound pulses and transmit them into the body. The sound waves travel into the body and are strongly reflected at interfaces between different types of tissue such as fat and muscle, or muscle and bone. At each interface a fraction of the sound wave is reflected and the rest transmitted through the interface to penetrate further into the tissue. This process occurs at each interface and by recording the reflected sound wave echoes an image can be produced. The recorded signal is converted to tissue thickness by measuring the time it takes the signal to reach the interface and multiplying the time by the sound speed through tissue (for fat sound speed is approximately 1400 m/sec, for muscle it is 1600 m/sec). In typical two dimensional ultrasound imaging, millions of sound pulses and echoes are sent and received each second to build the image.
Illustration showing typical tissue structure in legs and arms. Key interfaces are at Fat-Muscle and Muscle-Bone. The ultrasound waves (white) propagate into the tissue and are strongly reflected at these interfaces.
Signal recorded from a male thigh with BodyMetrix™ BX-2000. The first peak (red arrow) at 7.1 mm is the fat-muscle interface and the second large peak starting at 28 mm (blue arrow) is the muscle – bone interface.
The BodyMetrix™ devices use the same technology to collect information about the tissue structure along one ray (one-dimensional imaging). When the BodyMetrix™ device is applied to the skin inaudible, high frequency sound waves are directed into the body. To overcome reflections of the sound waves at the air layer between the skin and the transducer probe, a water based gel is applied onto the probe before contacting the skin. The reflected sound wave echoes are received by the transducer probe and produce a signal such as the one shown here for the measurement on a male thigh. By analyzing the recorded signal, the distance from the probe to the various tissue interfaces can be calculated and this information can be used to determine body composition.
For example, the BodyMetrix measurement shown here indicates the fat-muscle interface is seen at position 7.1 mm, the Muscle bone interface is at position 28 mm. Bone has a very high reflectivity for ultrasound and it is impossible to image beyond this boundary. The additional peaks observed in the signal are caused by other interfaces within the tissue. In many cases the muscle region comprises of multiple muscles which can cause a sequence of peaks to appear. Similarly fat can include fibrous tissue that can also produce secondary peaks.
