Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to develop a database of tissue composition, distribution, volume, surface area, and skin thickness from anatomically correct human models, the virtual family. These models were based on high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of human volunteers, including two adults (male and female) and two children (boy and girl). In the segmented image dataset, each voxel is associated with a label which refers to a tissue type that occupies up that specific cubic millimeter of the body. The tissue volume was calculated from the number of the voxels with the same label. Volumes of 24 organs in body and volumes of 7 tissues in 10 specific body regions were calculated. Surface area was calculated from the collection of voxels that are touching the exterior air. Skin thicknesses were estimated from its volume and surface area. The differences between the calculated and original masses were about 3 % or less for tissues or organs that are important to thermoregulatory modeling, e.g., muscle, skin, and fat. This accurate database of body tissue distributions and geometry is essential for the development of human thermoregulatory models. Data derived from medical imaging provide new effective tools to enhance thermal physiology research and gain deeper insight into the mechanisms of how the human body maintains heat balance.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Drs. Reed Hoyt, William Santee, Karl Friedl, Gary Zientara, and John Castellani for their discussion, comments, and proofreading and Mr. Stephen Mullen for his technical assistance. This article is approved for public release. The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the author(s) and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Army or the Department of Defense. Any citations of commercial organizations and trade names in this report do not constitute an official Department of the Army endorsement of approval of the products or services of these organizations.
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Xu, X., Rioux, T.P., MacLeod, T. et al. Measured body composition and geometrical data of four “virtual family” members for thermoregulatory modeling. Int J Biometeorol 61, 477–486 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-016-1227-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-016-1227-7