adipoMetrix

adipoMetrix Brochure

The amount of visceral fat – i.e. the fat in the deep belly, surrounding the abdominal organs – is related to a variety of diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and an increased heart disease risk. icoMetrix offers image analysis methods to accurately quantify the amount of visceral and subcutaneous fat – together with the subcutaneous fat – using standard CT or MR scans. These methods have been applied for human and small-animal studies.

CT Fat Quantification

Single slice CT of the abdomen of a child with subcutaneous, muscular and visceral fat quantification used to study the influence of metformin therapy on weight gain and adiposity. Visceral fat is colored red, subcutaneous blue.

A method was developed to quantify the evolution in the amount of visceral and subcutaneous fat from a single rotation computed tomography (CT) scan. It was applied in a randomized, placebo-controlled study with n=42 subject. The goal was to assess the influence of metformin therapy on weight gain and visceral adiposity in children and adolescents with neurogenic or myogenic motor deficit.

Subjects were imaged twice, at study onset and after six months of therapy. Slices were obtained by computed tomography with one rotation at L3–L4 disk level. Further processing was fully automatic, except for the delineation of the areas of intra- and extra-abdominal fat (visceral vs. subcutaneous). The amount of fat was expressed in square centimeters and as a fraction of visceral-plus-subcutaneous fat. Other non-imaging values were also collected, such as weight and body mass index (BMI).

The study showed that, as compared to placebo, the most significant effect of metformin intake for 6 months was a reduction in the amount of visceral fat (∼20%; p < 0.0001). Differences in weight (∼2kg; p = 0.007) and BMI (p = 0.016) were less pronounced.

See K Casteels, S Fieuws, M van Helvoirt, C Verpoorten, N Goemans, W Coudyzer, D Loeckx, F de Zegher, Metformin therapy to reduce weight gain and visceral adiposity in children and adolescents with neurogenic or myogenic motor deficit, Pediatric Diabetes 2010, 11(1), 61-69

Full-body MR Fat Quantification

Central MRI slice of male C56Bl/6 mice with the subcutaneous (red) and abdominal (blue) fat highlighted.

To investigate the influence of aging on adiposity and fat distribution, a non-invasive method is developed using two full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans per time-point. The method was used to investigate the normal evolution in visceral obesity for wild-type C56Bl/6 mice.

Ten mice were included in the study, imaged at the age of 10 weeks, and 12 and 24 months. In each imaging session, fat suppressed and non-suppressed full-body MR images were acquired using a respiration triggered RARE sequence. Information in both images was combined to automatically segment the body contour, the abdomen contour, and fatty tissue.

The study showed that ageing of C57Bl/6 male mice is associated with a biphasic pattern; a significant increase in visceral fat was found between 10 weeks and 12 months; between 12 months and 24 months, both the amount of visceral and subcutaneous fat decreases significantly.

B Hemmeryckx, D Loeckx, T Dresselaers, U Himmelreich, MF Hoylaerts, RH Lijnen, Age-associated adaptations in murine adipose tissues, Endocrine Journal 2010, 57(10), 925-930