EXHIBIT A 

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US008374671B2 

(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 8,374,671 B2 

Barnes (45) Date of Patent: Feb. 12, 2013 

(54) HEALTH INDICATOR (56) References Cited 

(75) Inventor: Richard Barnes, Suckley (GB) U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 

4,825,263. A 4, 1989 Desjardins et al. (73) Assignee: Select Research Limited, Birmingham 2001/0030754 A1* 10/2001 Spina et al. ................... 356,601 

(GB) 2002, 0026105 A1* 2, 2002 DraZen ...... ... 600/300 

2003/O120515 A1 6/2003 Geller ............................... 705/2 

(*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 2004.0143194 A1* 7/2004 Kihara et al. ................. 600,534 

patent is extended or adjusted under 35 3988. A. 29: YES ecket al. 1 ................... 434.247 

U.S.C. 154(b) by 760 days. 2006/0129436 A1* 6/2006 Short ................................ 705/4 

(21) Appl. No.: 12/280,985 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 

1-1. EP 1374,767 A2 1, 2004 

(22) PCT Filed: Feb. 27, 2007 GB 2159943. A 12, 1985 

JP 11128197 A 5, 1999 

(86) PCT NO.: PCT/GB2OOTFOOO660 WO WO 2005045748 A 5, 2005 

S371 (c)(1) WO WO 2005045748 A1 * 5, 2005 

(87) PCT Pub. No.: WO2007/096652 Annex to Form PCT/ISA206, Communication Relating to the 

PCT Pub. Date: Aug. 30, 2007 Results of the Partial International Search. e a V8 

(65) Prior Publication Data * cited by examiner 

US 2009/OO994.57 A1 Apr. 16, 2009 Primary Examiner — James Kish 

Related U.S. Application Data Assistant Examiner — Michael N Fisher 

(60) Provisional application No. 60/782,147, filed on Mar. (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Carstens & Cahoon, LLP: 

14, 2006. David W. Carstens 

(30) Foreign Application Priority Data (57) ABSTRACT 

Feb. 27, 2006 (GB) ................................... 06.038640. A device for determining a person's health that uses a body 

scanner to obtain a three-dimensional model of a person. The 

device calculates the volume of at least a first part of the (51) Int. Cl. p G0IB II/22 (2006.01) person’s body and a second part of a person’s body from the 

three-dimensional model. An indication of the person's (52) U.S. Cl. ........................................ 600/407: 356/627 p (58) Field of Classification Search 6OO/3O1 health is calculated based on the volume of the first part and 

600/411, 416, 459 340,356,627. 6O1 628. volume of the second part of the person's body. 

128/921 

See application file for complete search history. 22 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets 

 

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US 8,374,671 B2 

1. 

HEALTH INDICATOR 

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED 

APPLICATIONS 

The present application is a 35 USC 371 of PCT Applica 

tion No. PCT/GB2007/000660, filed Feb. 27, 2007, which 

claims priority benefits of GB Application No. 0603864.0, 

filed Feb. 27, 2006 and U.S Provisional Application Ser. No. 

60/782,147, filed Mar. 14, 2006. 

This invention relates to a health indicator and method of 

operation of said health indicator. In particular, it relates to a 

body Volume measurement tool for obtaining a measure of 

whether or not a person has a healthy body mass for their size 

and/or shape and thus determining the associated health risk. 

This invention also relates to a method for assisting a person in managing their weight. 

A common method, if not the most common method of 

evaluating whether a person is over or under weight is by use 

of the Body Mass Index (BMI). The BMI of a person is 

calculated by dividing their weight (in kilograms) by their 

height squared (in metres). The BMI gives a general indica 

tion of the amount of body fat a personhas. The medical terms 

“overweight' and “obese are based on BMI values. It is 

generally accepted that the higher the BMI figure, the more at 

risk a person is of developing an obesity-related illness. The 

BMI of a person considered to be healthy is between 18.5 and 

24.9. A BMI of less than 18.5 is considered underweight, 

between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 

30 or more is considered obese. It is common for medical 

practitioners to prescribe drugs to people to assist them in 

losing weight based, in part, on their BMI. 

As stated above, BMI only takes into account the height 

and weight of a person and does not take account of a person’s build, body shape or body composition. The use of ranges of 

BMI values to define whether a person is healthy, under 

weight, overweight or obese have, in recent years, been gen 

erally accepted in the medical field as being a relatively crude 

measure of an individual person’s health and body shape. For 

example, people having certain distinctive body shapes can 

fall into the incorrect BMI category for their actual health and 

therefore may or may not be receiving the correct intervention or clinical treatment when needed. It is therefore advanta 

geous to have an indicator that is more representative of a 

person’s health, particularly if drugs are prescribed or insur 

ance premiums calculated based on this data. 

Obesity or being overweight increases the risk of several 

different kinds of chronic health problems, for example 

strokes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabe 

tes, heart disease and certain types of cancer. However, excess 

weight does not necessarily mean an increased risk for 

chronic health problems. Instead, experts believe the amount 

of lean muscle mass and body fat are more important factors 

in overall health predictions. A higher percentage of body fat 

is associated with an increased risk for obesity and weight 

related chronic medical conditions and where the fat is dis 

tributed over the body is a determining factor. 

Body composition analysis determines how much of a 

person’s weight is made up of muscle, bone, skin, water, body 

organs and fat. The most accurate method for measuring body Volume to date is underwaterweighing, also known as Hydro static Weighing. Using this technique, a measure of the 

amount of body fat and remaining lean body mass can be 

obtained. This technique requires a water tank and an under 

water scale where a patient is first weighed outside the tank 

and then, with minimal clothing on the body, sits on a seat 

mounted with a scale. The seat is then placed into the water 

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tank, totally Submerging the patient into the water. This 

allows the underwaterweight to be recorded. Lung capacity is 

also measured to subtract the weight of the air in the lungs while the patient is holding his/her breath underwater. The 

total body volume of the person can therefore be determined 

and an estimated body fat percentage derived from the data 

obtained. 

Underwaterweighing is highly accurate, but since the tech 

nique requires special equipment, it is usually only used at 

larger hospitals, and thus availability is an issue. A further 

drawback is that the procedure cannot be used on everyone 

and children, elderly and sick people may not be able to 

co-operate or hold their breath long enough to get an accurate 

estimate of underwater weight. 

A known DEXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry) 

technique uses a scanner that passes low-dose X-rays of dif 

fering wavelengths through a person to determine bone den 

sity and body fat percentage. Other methods for determining 

body composition include MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imag 

ing) scanning, BodPod, which uses an air displacement tech 

nique, and Tanita, which uses impedance analysis. 

According to a first aspect of the invention, we provide a 

health indicator device comprising a body scanner to obtain a 

three-dimensional model of a person, a body Volume calcu 

lator for calculating the volume of at least a first part of the 

person’s body and a second part of a person’s body from the 

three-dimensional model and a health calculating device for 

calculating an indication of the person’s health based on the 

output from at least the body volume calculator. 

This is advantageous as the three-dimensional (3-D) model 

is used to calculate the indication of a person’s health, which 

takes into account the unique build and body shape of an 

individual person. An accurate indication of the person’s 

health can be calculated which can be used to accurately diagnose problems, develop weight change programmes or 

appropriately prescribe medication or drugs as necessary. It 

also obviates the need to hydrostatically weigh a patient and 

is therefore quicker, accurate and less intrusive. The device of 

the invention is easy to use, non-invasive, patient friendly and 

completely safe by using non-penetrating radiation imaging 

techniques, while being particularly accurate and provides a 

reliable indicator that is representative of a person’s health. 

Further, if the health indicator device is used on a person over 

a period of time, it can be used to identify people who are at 

risk of becoming overweight or obese by tracking, comparing 

and analysing their data. It has been found that using the 

output from the body Volume calculator a more accurate 

indication of a person's health can be obtained. Using the 

volume of at least first and second parts of the person’s body 

has been found to be accurate as it takes account of body shape and body mass distribution that cannot easily be rea 

lised by making spatial measurements such as waist, chest, 

bust and hip measurements as in prior art methods. This is 

especially true if the first or second body parts comprise the 

abdominal region, which has been found to provide a reliable 

indication of health risk. The abdominal region contains the 

intestinal area, liver and kidneys and this region is of impor 

tance as its relative volume and composition can be used to 

accurately predict the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovas 

cular disease, for example. 

The health calculating device may calculate the indication 

of a person's health based on the ratio between the volume of 

the first part and the volume of the second part. This is par ticularly advantageous as the use of volume ratios of different 

parts of the body gives an accurate indication of a person’s 

health. Thus, by comparing the Volume of various body parts the shape of a person can be recognized. This is advantageous, 

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as the indication of health calculated by the above device is 

accurate and is able to differentiate between people of differ 

ent health status but with the same BMI calculation, for 

example. A sportsman Such as a Swimmer may have a larger 

than average chest measurement, which in the prior art meth 

ods may be considered unhealthy for their weight, for 

example. However, the present device may be able to appre 

ciate that the swimmer's body shape is not unhealthy due to 

the volume of other body parts that the chest volume is com 

pared to. Typical ratios may include neck Volume to whole 

body Volume, upper torso Volume to abdominal Volume or 

abdominal volume to whole body volume or indeed a com 

bination of these ratios. 

Preferably, the body volume calculator determines the vol 

ume of third, and/or fourth, and/or fifth and/or sixth body 

parts and the health calculating device calculates ratios 

between the volumes of these parts to obtain the indication of 

a person’s health. The health calculating device may use 

further data Such as body composition data to obtain the 

indication of a person’s health. The body composition data 

may include body fat composition, muscle mass, amount of 

skin, blood, body water, bone and organs. Preferably, the 

health indicating device provides a prediction of the volume 

of the stomach using the Volume of the abdominal region obtained from the body volume calculator and body compo sition data. Which body composition data is used may be 

chosen depending on the particular part of the body measured 

by the body volume calculator. Preferably, the body compo 

sition data is obtained using cadaver study and analysis data. 

Most preferably, the body composition data comprises pre 

determined data that can be used by the health calculating 

means to estimate the composition of apart of a person’s body 

based on the volume obtained from the body volume calcu 

lator. The pre-determined data may be obtained from pub lished Surveys of body composition and in particular Such 

studies by body part. 

The body composition data, such as cadaver data, prefer 

ably includes data of the weight of constituent elements of a 

body part and the health calculating device includes compari 

son means to compare the three-dimensional model to the 

body composition data to estimate the weight of at least the 

first body part or second body part based on the volume of 

those parts calculated by the body volume calculator. This is 

advantageous as the body composition data allows the health 

indicating device to estimate how much of a given body part, 

based on its Volume, is made up of skin, bone, water, muscle, 

etc and therefore estimate its weight. This enables the health 

calculating device to provide an indication of health and 

estimate the weight change of parts of the body. Therefore, for 

example, the person can be informed on which parts of the 

body to focus their efforts to loose further weight. 

Preferably, the health indicator device includes feedback 

means adapted to receive data regarding the person's health at 

later time and wherein the health calculating device receives 

data from the feedback means to improve the accuracy of the 

indication of a person's health. 

The health indicator device may include a height calculat 

ing device to obtain the person's height. The indication of the 

person’s health may be calculated using at least the Volume of 

the first and second parts and the person’s height. 

Preferably, the body volume calculator calculates the vol 

ume of predetermined parts of the person’s body, which are 

used by the health calculating device to calculate the indica 

tion of the person’s health. Preferably, the predetermined 

parts are associated with an importance factor, which is used 

to give more importance to particular parts of the body in the 

calculation of the person's health. Thus, the indication of a 

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person’s health can take account of body shape and particular 

areas of the body where excessive fat deposits are known to be 

symptomatic of medical conditions. For example, medical 

researchers have suggested that having excessive fat around 

the abdominal region has a high correlation with heart disease 

risk. Thus, the volume of the abdomen and in particular the 

area between the upper and lower waist may be given a higher 

importance factor than other parts of the body. 

Most preferably, the health calculating device calculates 

the volume of the abdominal region as the first part, the 

Volume of the upper torso as the second part and the Volume 

of the lower torso as a third part. Preferably, the volume of the 

first part is compared to the volume of the second and third 

parts and the importance factor determined therefrom. It will 

be appreciated that other part body volumes may be used. By 

determining the indication of a person's health in this way a 

differential anthropometric measure is created that takes 

account of differing torso shapes and differing whole body shapes. 

Preferably the height calculating device uses the three 

dimensional model to calculate the height of the person. Preferably, the health calculating device receives a measure 

ment of the length of the person’s legs. This may be measured 

and entered manually, although preferably the measurement 

is made by the device from the three-dimensional model. 

Preferably, the length of the person’s legs is used by the health 

calculating device to determine the indication of a person’s 

health. This is advantageous as research has shown that 

people with short legs in relation to the rest of their body are 

prone to insulin resistance. 

Preferably the health indicator device includes a blood 

pressure measurer to obtain the person’s blood pressure. This 

may be measured during the scanning of the person’s body or 

afterwards. The health indicator may also include a choles 

terol measurement device. Preferably, the device includes 

means to obtain the body composition of the person or a 

particular part of the body of that person. Preferably, the 

device includes means to measure the person's heart rate or 

heart rate variability. Preferably the body volume calculator 

comprises Software that manipulates data output from the 

body scanner and may obtain additional data. Preferably, the 

additional data includes cholesterol level, blood pressure, lipids profile and glucose or weight. Preferably the body 

Volume calculator manipulates the data output from the body 

scanner using triple integration. 

The body scanner may be of known type and preferably is 

a scanner of white light type. This is advantageous as it does 

not subject the person to a dose of radiation like certain known 

scanning techniques. In Summary, such a scanner makes 

many measurements (typically 100 to 130 million) known as 

data points of several million positions on the Surface of a 

person’s body. These data points can then be appropriately 

joined or associated with neighbouring points to form a three 

dimensional image of a person. An appropriate body Scanner 

is an NX, or NX scanner manufactured by (TC) of 211 

Gregson Drive, Cary, N.C. 2751 1 USA, for example. It will 

be appreciated that other scanners capable of taking the 

appropriate measurements to generate the model may also be 

used. 

Preferably the indication of a person's health is scaled such 

that it corresponds to the known BMI scale. This is advanta 

geous as it provides a value that is an accurate representation 

of a person’s health that is readily recognised as it modified to 

correspond to a widely known and long established BMI 

scale. Preferably the indication is scaled by a constant. How 

ever, it may be scaled by a function. 

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Preferably the health indicator device stores the 3-D model 

and the indication of a person's health. Preferably the health 

indicator device determines whether the person being 

scanned has been Scanned previously and, if so, shows at least 

a comparison between the present 3-D model and the previ 

ous 3-D model. It may also show comparison information 

with average or aggregated scans of people with similar mea 

Surements or the national average or international average. The device may also show a comparison between the previous 

indication of a person’s health and the present indication of a 

person’s health. 

Preferably the health indicator device is used to collect 

statistics, which are stored in a database. Preferably, the data 

base can be accessed from a secure web server. 

According to a second aspect of the invention, a method for 

calculating the health of a person comprising the steps of 

Scanning the person’s body using a body Scanner, 

generating a three-dimensional model of the person’s body; 

calculating the volume of a first part of the person's body 

from the three-dimensional model; 

calculating the Volume of a second part of the person’s 

body from the three-dimensional model; and 

calculating an indication of the health of the person from at 

least the calculated volume of the first and second parts of the person's body. 

The indication of health is obtained quickly, easily and 

accurately by the above method. As a body scanner is used the 

data collected is a true and undistorted representation of a 

person's size and shape. The calculation of a person’s Volume 

or, in particular, the Volume of predetermined body parts 

using a body scanner gives an accurate representation of a 

person’s shape without the need to Submerge them in water, 

for example. Further, the present method allows the volume 

of parts of the body to be determined and, using predeter 

mined data or further measurement, an estimate of the body composition per body section can be obtained. The indication 

of health obtained provides a useful anthropometric measure 

that is an accurate assessment of a person's health and can be 

used as an alternative to BMI and other manual based anthro 

pometric measurement techniques. 

Preferably, the indication of the person's health is calcu 

lated by the ratio between the first volume and the second 

volume. As discussed in relation to the first aspect of the 

invention, the Volume of various first and second body parts 

may be chosen. However, the first body part preferably com 

prises the abdominal area and the second body part preferably comprises the upper torso. 

Preferably, the volume of further predetermined parts of 

the person’s body are calculated and used in the calculation of 

the indication of the person’s health. The persons weight, height and/or leg length may be used in the calculation of the 

indication of the person’s health. 

Preferably, the method includes obtaining body composi 

tion databased on the volume of the first or second parts and 

using the body composition data in the indication of a per 

son's health. 

Preferably the method includes obtaining a blood pressure 

measurement of the person. This may be measured during the 

scanning of the person's body or afterwards. The method may 

also include measuring the cholesterol level of a person. The 

blood pressure and/or cholesterol measurement may be used 

in the calculating of the health of a person. A blood sample 

may also be taken. 

According to a third aspect of the invention, we provide a 

method of weight management comprising the steps of 

(a) scanning a person’s body using a body Scanner; 

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(b) generating a three-dimensional model of the person’s body; 

(c) measuring at least the person’s weight; 

(d) generating a data record including the three dimen 

sional model and at least the person’s weight; and 

(e) repeating steps (a) through (d) at predetermined time 

intervals and generating a further data record showing 

any changes in the three dimensional model and/or at 

least the persons weight. 

This is advantageous as the person undergoing weight 

management has a representation of how their body shape is 

changing. Thus, by having the graphical representation of 

their body shape as well as the numerical data, it gives the 

person a more informative insight into what has been 

achieved and what still needs to be achieved. This method is 

particularly applicable in a healthcare setting. Further, simply 

seeing the 3-D representation may encourage and motivate 

the person into admitting that a change in weight is necessary 

and act as a psychological tool for healthcare purposes. This 

is particularly useful for people with eating disorders such as 

Anorexia or elderly patients who suffer from malnutrition as 

the perception of their own body shape differs from reality. A 

common symptom of Anorexia is denial that they are pain 

fully thin. Indeed many anorexics truly believe they are over 

weight. By showing them an image of their body from the 3-D 

model, it may have the required psychological impact to help 

them accept the reality that they are severely underweight and 

have a medical condition. Further, use of a scanner is less 

invasive than having another person make numerous “hands 

on' measurements and there is no intervention. Still further, 

manually measuring someone can lead to inaccuracies due to 

how tight the measuring tape is held, which can, for example, 

compress Soft areas leading to an inaccurate reduced mea 

Surement. This problem is common as often, the measuring 

tape bridges the small of the back between body mass either 

side of the spine. Thus, the person is more relaxed due to the 

absence of physical contact and the data collected is more 

accurate and also very detailed. 

The further data sheet preferably shows the three-dimen 

sional models of the body taken at each predetermined time to 

visually show any changes. Most preferably the models of the 

body are overlaid on one another or they may be positioned 

side by side. The further data sheet may include additional 

information, and/or changes in said additional information, 

Such as neck, chest, waist and hip measurements, blood pres 

sure, cholesterol level, blood analysis, heart rate and variabil 

ity. The data sheet or further data sheet may be such that it can 

be sent to the patient by e-mail or by SMS or MMS message 

to a mobile phone. The sending of data in this way may be 

effected via a website such as www.body Volume.mobi. 

The predetermined time intervals may be between 1 and 52 

weeks and are preferably between 10 and 15 weeks. Most 

preferably the time interval is 13 weeks, although it will be 

appreciated that time intervals between scans may vary according to individual patient needs or healthcare diagnosis 

by healthcare professionals. 

Preferably, the method of weight management defined 

employs the use of the health indicator device of the first 

aspect of the invention. 

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a method for 

assisting a person to change weight comprising the steps of 

(a) arranging for payment of a number of sessions; 

said session at least comprising scanning said person in 

a body Scanner and generating a three-dimensional 

model of said person; 

(b) scheduling a further session; 

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(c) performing said further session and generating a data 

sheet showing at least said three-dimensional model 

from the present session and any changes from the pre 

vious session; 

(d) repeating steps (b) and (c) until the number of sessions 

completed is equal to the number of Sessions payment 

has been arranged for. 

Preferably the further session is scheduled between 4 and 

13 weeks after the present session or at a suitable time as 

determined by a clinician. Preferably payment is arranged to 

be made prior to the first session being performed by debit 

card, credit card, for example. Payment may be arranged or 

made remotely, for example via the Internet by way of email or via a web site. 

Preferably the session includes the steps defined in accor 

dance with the second aspect of the invention or using the 

device of the first aspect of the invention. 

According to a fifth aspect of the invention we provide a 

database means adapted to receive at least one record, the 

record comprising an identification reference associated with 

a person and at least information obtained by scanning the 

person using a body Scanner, wherein the database means 

includes access means to allow access to the information 

stored in the database means. 

Preferably the identification reference comprises the date 

of birth or name of the person that is scanned. However it may comprise other identifying information Such as a national 

insurance number, identity card number or Social security 

number. Alternatively, it may be a serial number that is 

assigned to the information obtained from the Scanner. Most 

preferably, the identification reference is derived from the 

gender, date of birth, date and time of the scan, ethnicity and 

the location of where the scan was performed. Accordingly 

the database means stores anonymous information and there 

fore the identifying information of the person who was 

scanned is associated with the identification reference and is 

stored elsewhere. Preferably, the database is available via a 

secure server to users with appropriate secure authentication 

and permission. 

Preferably the information obtained by scanning the per 

son comprises a three-dimensional model of the person’s 

body. Preferably the information includes the volume of a 

first part and a second part of the person's body calculated 

from the three-dimensional model of the person's body. Pref 

erably the information includes body composition data 

derived from the body volume measurements of at least the 

first and second parts of the person's body. Preferably the 

information includes an indication of the person’s health 

derived from the volume, calculated from the three-dimen 

sional model, of at least the first and second predetermined 

parts of the person’s body. Preferably, the predetermined 

parts are associated with an importance factor, which is used 

to give more importance to particular parts of the body in the 

calculation of the person's health. The importance factor may comprise a multiplier or alternatively it may be a function. 

Preferably the calculation of a person's health comprises an 

algorithm that uses a plurality of ratios of the volume of 

predetermined parts of the person's body. Preferably the 

importance factor is determined from any combination of the 

gender, age and ethnicity of the person. 

Preferably, the database means is located on a computer 

server. Preferably the access means is adapted to allow access 

to the information over the Internet. Preferably the access 

means allows access to the information over a secure channel, 

such as SSL (Secure Socket Layer). Preferably, the access 

means requires registration details or payment to allow access 

to the information. The use of registration details allow only 

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the appropriate people to access the information, Such as the 

person to whom the information relates, their medical prac titioners, health professional or other person they specify as 

being able to access the data. 

Preferably the database means is adapted to receive a plu 

rality of entries for each identification reference and the date 

on which the information from the body scanner is obtained. 

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, we provide a 

health indicator device comprising a body scanner to obtain a 

three-dimensional model of a person, a body Volume calcu 

lator for calculating the Volume of at least a part of the per 

son's body from the three-dimensional model, a height cal 

culating device to obtain the person’s height and a health 

calculating device for calculating an indication of the per 

son's health based on the output from at least the body volume 

calculator and the height calculating device. 

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, a method 

for calculating the health of a person comprising the steps of 

scanning the person's body using a body Scanner, 

generating a three-dimensional model of the person’s body; 

calculating the Volume of at least a part of the person’s 

body from the three-dimensional model; 

measuring the height of the person’s body; and 

calculating an indication of the health of the person from at 

least the calculated volume and height of the person's body. 

According to an eighth aspect of the invention, we provide 

a method of weight management comprising the steps of 

(a) scanning a person’s body using a body scanner; 

(b) generating a three-dimensional model of the person’s body; 

(c) measuring at least the person’s height and weight; 

(d) generating a data sheet including the three dimensional 

model and at least the persons weight; and 

(e) repeating steps (a) through (d) at predetermined time 

intervals and generating a further data sheet showing any 

changes in the three dimensional model and/or at least 

the person’s weight. 

According to a ninth aspect of the invention there is pro 

vided a machine readable medium containing instructions to 

allow any of the above methods to be provided. According to a tenth aspect of the invention there is pro 

vided a machine readable medium containing instructions to 

cause any of the above apparatus to function. 

The machine readable medium according to any of the 

above aspects of the invention may comprise any of the fol 

lowing: a floppy disk, a CDROM/RAM, a DVD ROM/RAM 

(including -R/-RW and +R/+RW), a Blu ray disc, an HD 

DVD, a memory (including a Memory Stick, SD card, Flash 

memory card or the like), a hard drive, any form of magneto optical storage, a transmitted signal (including an Internet 

download, an FTP transfer or the like), a wire. 

According to an eleventh aspect of the invention, we pro vide a method of calculating the weight of parts of a person’s body comprising the steps of 

scanning a person in a body scanner; 

generating a three-dimensional model of the person’s body; 

splitting the three-dimensional model into at least one part; calculating the Volume of the at least one part from the 

three-dimensional model; 

using the Volume of the or each body part and cadaver data 

to estimate the composition of the or each body part. 

This is advantageous as the method allows detailed analy sis of the composition of body parts without the need for 

scanning techniques that use body-penetrating radiation. 

Case 4:23-cv-00865-SDJ Document 27 Filed 03/15/24 Page 10 of 14 PageID #: 219
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Thus, the above method allows the amount of organs, blood, 

water or tissue, for example, to be accurately estimated from 

the volume of the body part and the cadaver data. A white light 

body scanner may be used, which provides a cost effective 

method of obtaining accurate composition analysis of a per 

son's body by body part. It will be appreciated that other body 

scanners may be employed such as MRI, CT or BodPod, for 

example. 

The method may include the step of using the volume of the 

or each body part and the cadaver data to estimate the weight 

of each component of that body part. The components of a 

body part such as an arm may include the weight of the skin, 

bone, muscle mass, body fat or adipose tissue, blood and 

water. For the upper torso the components may include the 

weight of the Lungs, Heart, Spleen and all the skin, bone, 

muscle mass, body fat or adipose tissue, blood and water. For 

the lower torso the components may include the reproductive 

organs, Bladder and all the skin, bone, muscle mass, body fat 

or adipose tissue, blood and water. For the abdominal area the 

components may include the Liver, Kidneys, Large Intestine, 

Small Intestine, Stomach and all the skin, bone, muscle mass, 

body fat or adipose tissue, blood and water. It will be appre ciated that other body parts will be analysed according to their 

relevant components. 

Although the components differ depending on which part 

of the body is analysed, preferably the weight of at least the 

amount of blood, bone, water, tissue and fat is determined. In 

this context fat is assumed to be the amount of lipids extract 

able from adipose tissue. 

There now follows by way of example only a detailed 

description of embodiments of the present invention with 

reference to the accompanying drawings in which, 

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic representation of the health 

indicator device; 

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the operation the health 

indicator device and the database means; 

FIG. 3 shows a datasheet that may be generated using the 

weight management method; and 

FIGS. 4A and B shows a portion of a further datasheet; and 

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the datasheet. 

The embodiments described herein relate to a health indi 

cator device that can be used in the assessment of a person’s 

or patients health. The device disclosed can also be used as a 

weight management tool as also described below. The health 

indicator device will typically be situated in Hospitals, Doc 

tor's Surgeries, Health Centres, Clinical Trial Facilities, Fit 

ness Clubs, Gymnasiums and Private Health Care providers 

and will be used by medical professionals, Dieticians and 

Nutritionists to monitor weight loss or weight gain in patients. 

The device and method may even be applied to slimming 

clubs or to assessment of health insurance premiums, as an 

alternative to simply being weighed and the person's BMI 

being calculated manually. 

In FIG. 1, a health indicator device 1 is shown comprising 

a body scanner 2, data collection means 3 and manipulation 

means 4. The manipulation means 4 has a connection 5 to the 

Internet 6 so that it can communicate with database means 7. 

It will be appreciated that the connection need not be via the 

Internet 6 and may be over a Local Area Network, a direct 

connection or over a telephone line depending upon the loca 

tion of the manipulation means 4 and the database means 7. 

The database means 7 also has access means 8 to enable it to 

be accessed remotely by health professionals such as general 

practitioner or GP9. In this embodiment, the GP can access 

the database means 7 via the access means 8 over the Internet 

via a web-based interface. 

10 

15 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

55 

60 

65 

10 

The connection 5, 6 between the manipulation means 4 and 

the database means 7 comprises a secure file transfer protocol 

connection, although any appropriate connection, secure or 

otherwise, could be used. The connection between the GP9 

and the database means 7 is also a secure connection, using 

known secure Internet transfer methods such as SSL. 

The body Scanner 2 comprises a NX white light Scanner 

manufactured by TC. The scanner uses a plurality of white 

light sources to illuminate the person’s body Such that sensors 

can obtain measurements of the size and shape of the person 

for the generation of a three-dimensional model. 

The data collection means 3 comprises software loaded 

onto a computer that is connected to the scanner 2. The 

manipulation means 4 also comprises Software loaded on to 

the same computer, wherein the manipulation Software 

receives its input from the output of the scanner software 3. 

The manipulation Software 4 includes a body Volume calcu 

lator 11 and a health calculating device 19 both embodied as 

software. 

The manipulation means 4 passes the data from the data 

collection means 3 to the body volume calculator 11 with any additional information as appropriate. For example, the 

manipulation means may specify which body parts the Vol 

ume calculator 11 should calculate the volume of. The output from the body volume calculator 11 is passes to the health 

calculating device 19. The device 19 calculates a ratio 

between the first volume, corresponding to the first body part 

output by the Volume calculator, and the second Volume cor 

responding to the second body part output by the Volume 

calculator. The manipulation means 4 also receives input 

from body composition database means 51. The database 

means 51 contains information from medical Surveys, for 

example, on the composition of people of different sizes, 

shapes, gender, ages and ethnicity. Thus, by comparing the 

information entered into the manipulations means 4 about the 

person being scanned and the measurements made from the 

three-dimensional model, the manipulation means 4 can 

extract the typical body composition for that person from the 

database means 51. This information is used by the health 

calculating device 19, in combination with the ratio between 

the first and second Volumes to generate the indication of a 

person’s health. The indication of a person's health obtained 

can be used by the GP to assess the person's health and the 

health risks they could potentially by prone to. The GP can 

then recommend preventative measures, changes to diet, 

exercise or medication to improve the health of the person 

scanned. 

The manipulation means 4 also receives input from a feed 

back means 52. The feedback means receives information 

entered by a GP, for example, about any health problems that 

have developed in the scanned person. Such information can 

be used by the manipulation means can be used to validate or 

improve the indication of a person's health initially calculated 

by the health calculating device 19. For example, if the indi 

cation of a person's health indicated that the person had a high risk of heart disease and Subsequently that person developed 

heart disease, this information can be received by the feed 

back means 52. The health calculating device 19 then alteran 

importance factor associated with the body volumes it used to 

calculate the indication of a person's health, so that Subse 

quent calculations of people with a similar size, shape or 

composition yield an indication of health that emphasises the 

health risk to a GP. The feedback means 52 therefore provides 

the device 1 with a means to validate and iteratively improve 

the accuracy of the results the health indicator device 19 

produces. 

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US 8,374,671 B2 

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The connection 5 may also be used to update the manipu 

lation software 4 from a computer server (not shown) also 

connected to the Internet. 

The manipulation means 4 is also connected to an output 

means 12, which comprises a printer. The printer 12 is able to 

print a datasheet 13, 50 showing at least the output from the 

manipulation means 4. 

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the scanning method. In use, 

an operator would oversee the scanning process. The operator 

would briefa person 14 (shown in FIG. 1) to be scanned on the 

scanning process including what posture to adopt and how to 

initiate the Scanning process. The person 14 would undress to 

underwear in a changing booth adjacent the Scanner 2. These 

steps are represented by numeral 20. The person 14 is scanned 

at 21, which involves entering the Scanner 2 and adopting the 

predetermined position and initiating the scanning process. 

The scanners used by embodiments of the present inven 

tion are known and will not be described in detail. However, in Summary, a plurality of white light sources 16 emit light in 

a specific pattern which is then incident on the person’s body 

14. A plurality of cameras (not shown) are used to make 

measurements based on the pattern of light reflected from the 

person’s body. The resultant raw data comprises a "3-D 

cloud of data points that is processed by the data collection 

means 3 at step 22 to generate a “wire-frame' three-dimen 

sional model of the person 14. The raw or model data is stored 

23 in storage means (not shown). The stored data can be 

recalled from the storage means as required. The storage 

means may comprise memory, a hard disk and optical media 

or may be a remote device connected to the data collection 

mean 3 by communication means. The data collection means 

3 may also make simple calculations on the model data such 

as the height of the person 14. Therefore, the model data and 

the calculations are received by the manipulation software 4. 

The data from the data collection means 3 is output to the 

manipulation software 4. Steps 24 and 25 represent part of the 

method performed by the manipulation software 4. The 

manipulation Software 4 is adapted to receive additional 

information at step 24 about the person 14 being scanned. 

This additional information is received automatically via 

other external devices 28 such as weighing scales 15, choles 

terol meters (not shown) and/or blood pressure measurers 

(not shown). Further additional information is also input manually 27 from records or by physically making measure 

ments. The information received automatically may be via a 

dedicated device interface or a serial connection, for example. 

It will be appreciated that any appropriate means for receiving 

the information may be employed. 

Step 25 represents at least the actions performed by the 

body volume calculator 11 and the health-calculating device 

19. The body volume calculator modifies the 3-D model data 

and applies a triple integration to calculate the Volume. It will 

be appreciated that any appropriate method may be used by 

the volume calculator 11 to calculate the volume of the first 

body part and the second body parts. The first and second 

volumes calculated from the model therefore correspond to 

the volume of the person 14 or part volume thereof. 

At step 25 the body volume calculator 11 uses the model 

data output by the data collection means 3 to identify and 

calculate the volume of parts of the model that correspond to 

predetermined parts of the person’s body 14. The volume 

calculator 11 calculates at least the volume of a first part, such 

as the mid-section around the stomach, and a second part, which may comprise the volume of the persons whole body. The parts chosen may vary depending upon the person’s 

weight problem or medical condition or the health risk to be 

predicted. The volumes of the various parts of the model 

10 

15 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

55 

60 

65 

12 

calculated by the body volume calculator 11 are passed to the 

health-calculating device 19. The volume of these predeter 

mined parts, such as the abdominal region, backside, or hips 

for example, are then associated with an importance factor. 

Similarly, the importance factor associated with each part of 

the body will vary depending upon the persons weight prob 

lem or medical condition. The importance factor may be used 

to apply a bias to the Volumes calculated for certain parts of 

the body. Thus, the indication of a person's health can take 

account of the impact on the health that different body fat and 

adipose tissue distributions will have. The use of importance 

factors could also be used to take account of the composition 

of different parts of the body due to differing bone, tissue or 

organ masses if the weight or body density of a person is used 

in the calculation of a person’s health. However, in this 

embodiment the data collection means 3 is adapted to receive 

data from the body composition database 51. The data from 

the body composition database allows the health calculating device 19 to estimate the body composition of the person being scanned. It will be appreciated that the importance 

factor may comprise a function, the coefficients of which may 

take account of sex, gender, ethnicity, age, other biometric 

data and the information from the feedback means 52. 

The health-calculating device 19 then calculates an indica 

tion of the person's 14 health using the ratio between the first 

and second volumes of the parts of the body and their asso 

ciated importance factors. It will be appreciated that the 

manipulation Software 4 and Volume calculator 11 can be 

programmed to calculate the appropriate Volume or Volumes 

depending on the person's 14 condition or the application of 

the device 1. For example, for medical purposes, the model of 

the body 14 may be separated into many parts, each being 

associated with an importance factor to obtainan accurate and 

representative indication of a person's health. The impor 

tance factor also allows for the natural differences in body shape caused by gender, age and ethnicity to be taken account 

of. Thus, the device may use the ratio of the volume of the 

persons abdominal region to the whole body Volume and 

scale it appropriately by the importance factor. Alternatively, 

when the device 1 is used in a gymnasium, the indication of a 

person’s health may be calculated using the Volume of the 

person's 14 whole body. 

Once the manipulation software 4 has performed its 

manipulation 25 of the data output from the data collection 

software 3, a record is created of the person’s scan and the 

statistics calculated by the manipulation software 4. If the 

person 14 has been scanned previously, the model data and 

other statistics are appended to the previously created record 

at step 26. The record is also stored 29 and displayed to the 

person and/or operator on a display means (not shown) at Step 

3O. 

A datasheet 13 (or further datasheet if data of a previous 

scan is included) is printed at step 31 by the output means 12. 

Two exemplary views of the output from the display means 

from which the datasheet is printed is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. 

The sheet includes personal details 35 of the scanned person 

14 and measurements 36, 37,38 made from the three-dimen 

sional model of the person’s body. The personal details may 

include an identification reference assigned to the person, their name, address, date of birth, occupation, lifestyle, medi 

cation being taken, allergies and details of their general prac 

titioner, for example. The measurements 36, 37, 38 may include arm and leg lengths and widths and waist, hips, chest, 

bust, underbust, bicep, thigh and neck measurements, for 

example. The datasheet 13 also includes a graphical repre 

sentation 40 of the three-dimensional model shown in front 

view and in side view. The provision of the graphical repre 

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US 8,374,671 B2 

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sentation 40 has a psychological impact on many patients as 

they are presented with an accurate image of their body that is 

more abstract than a photograph or reflection in a mirror. 

Thus, people are more likely to readily accept the graphical representation 40 as an accurate representation than deny to 

themselves that they do not have a weight problem, for 

example. This is particularly useful for people who have the 

potential to become obese with its related health problems or 

those Suffering from eating disorders, such as anorexia, where 

the person believes, when looking at their body in the flesh, 

that they are overweight. Finally, a summary 41 of the statis 

tics and the indication of the person's health is provided 

calculated from the volumes of the first and second parts of 

the body. 

A further datasheet may be substantially similar to that 

shown in FIG. 3, but will show any changes in the measure 

ments and/or 3-D model. Thus, the further datasheet is a 

composite data sheet showing information from two or more 

data sheets. FIGS. 4A and B show how the changes in the 

model may be represented in the composite datasheet. FIG. 

4A shows the 3-D model after the person has been scanned at a first time. FIG. 4B shows two 3-D model sections overlaid 

to show the change in body size and body shape. The com 

posite data sheet may also include graphs showing the change 

in size over time of various body parts. Referring back to FIG. 2, a file is created 32 from the 

patient record that includes the three-dimensional model and 

the values calculated by the manipulation software 4. The file 

does not (although it may) contain the personal details of the 

scanned person 14, but only the identification reference. The 

file may be compressed. At step 33, it is sent to the database 

means 7. The database means 7 interprets the data and deter 

mines, from cross-referencing the identification reference 

with the contents of the database, whether the record is new or 

in addition to data already stored. Accordingly, the database 

means creates a new record or appends then data contained in 

the file to a previously created record and stores 42 the record. 

The information store of the database means is secure to 

prevent unauthorised access to the data contained therein. 

The access means 8 comprises a secure web-based inter 

face 43. The interface 43 allows secure access to the database 

means 7 by using registration details such as a username and 

password that is transmitted to the database means over a SSL 

connection. Thus, the access means transmits the appropriate record to the GP as represented by step 44 and/or to the person 

14 represented by step 45. The record can then be printed 46, 

47 as required. 

FIG. 5 shows a second datasheet 50 printed by printer 12. 

This datasheet shows a representation of the three-dimen 

sional model 55 generated by the device 1. It also includes a 

plurality of measurements 56, some of which are calculated 

by the body volume calculator. In particular, the volume of the 

neck, upper torso, lower torso, abdomen, left arm, right arm, 

legs and total body is shown as calculated from the three 

dimensional model obtained by Scanning the person. The 

indication of a person's health is given as a figure labelled 

BVI, which may be calculated using the ratios between the 

above-mentioned Volumes. 

The invention claimed is: 

1. A health indicator device comprising: 

body Scanner; 

body volume calculator: 

body database; and 

health calculating device 

wherein 

said body scanner is configured to obtain a three-dimen 

sional model of a person; 

5 

10 

15 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

55 

60 

65 

14 

said body Volume calculatoris configured to calculate from 

said three-dimensional model first volume comprising a 

first body part of said person and a second Volume com 

prising a second body part of said person; 

said health calculating device is configured to calculate an 

indication of the health of said person using the body composition of said person by retrieving composition 

data from said body database and incorporating said 

composition data into said first volume and said second 

Volume and calculating said indication using a ratio of 

said incorporated first volume to said incorporated Sec 

ond Volume. 

2. A health indicator device according to claim 1, in which 

the body Volume calculator is arranged to calculate the Vol 

ume of further predetermined parts of the person's body, 

which are used by the health calculating device to calculate 

the indication of the person’s health. 

3. A health indicator device according to claim 2, in which 

the device is arranged to associate the first, second and any 

further predetermined parts with an importance factor, which 

is used to give more importance to particular parts of the body 

in the calculation of the person's health. 

4. A health indicator device according to claim3, in which 

the device is arranged to give the Volume of the abdomen a 

higher importance factor than other parts of the body. 

5. A. health indicator device according to claim3, in which 

the device is arranged to give the Volume of the upper and 

lower waist a higher importance factor than other parts of the 

body. 

6. A health indicator device according to claim 1, in which 

the health indicator device further comprises a blood pressure 

measurer arranged to obtain the person's blood pressure. 

7. A health indicator device according to claim 1, in which 

the health indicator device further comprises a cholesterol CaSU. 

8. A health indicator device according to claim 1, in which 

the body Volume calculator comprises software that manipu 

lates data output from the body Scanner. 

9. A health indicator device according to claim 1, in which 

the body Volume calculator is arranged to manipulate the data 

output from the body scanner using triple integration. 

10. A health indicator device according to claim 1, which is 

arranged to use the length of the person's legs, calculated 

from the three-dimensional model by the health calculating device to determine the indication of a person's health. 

11. Ahealth indicator device according to claim 1, in which 

a height calculating device is arranged to use the three-dimen 

sional model to calculate the height of the person and the 

height is used in combination with the length of the person’s legs by the health calculating device. 

12. A health indicator device according to claim 1, which is 

arranged to scale the indication of a person’s health Such that 

it corresponds to a known BMI scale. 

13. A health indicator device accord claim 12, in which the 

indication is scaled by a constant. 

14. A health indicator device according to claim 12, in 

which the indication is scaled by a function. 

15. A health indicatord vice according to claim 1, in which 

the health indicator device is arranged to store the 3-D model 

and the indication of a person’s health. 

16. A health indicator device according to claim 1, in which 

the health indicator device is arranged to determine whether 

the person being scanned has been scanned previously and, if 

So, is arranged to show at least a comparison between the 

present 3-D model and the previous 3-D model. 

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US 8,374,671 B2 

15 

17. A health indicator device according to claim 1, in which 

the device is adapted to show comparison information with 

average or aggregated Scans of people with similar measure 

mentS. 

18. A health indicator device according to claim 1, in which 5 

the device is arranged to show a comparison between any previous indication of a person’s health and a present indica 

tion of a person’s health. 

19. A health indicator device according to claim 1, in which 

the health indicator device is used to collect statistics, which 10 are stored in a database. 

20. A method for calculating the heath of a person com 

prising the steps of: 

Scanning the body of person using a body scanner; 

generating a three-dimensional model of said body; 

calculating from said three-dimensional model a first Vol 

ume comprising a first body part of said person; 

16 

calculating from said three-dimensional model a second 

Volume comprising a second body part of said person; 

and 

calculating a health indication of said person using the 

body composition of said person by retrieving compo 

sition data from a body database and incorporating said 

composition data into said first volume and said second 

Volume and calculating a ratio of said incorporated first 

Volume to said incorporated second Volume. 

21. A non-transitory machine readable medium containing 

instructions which when read by a machine causes that 

machine to perform as the health indicator device of claim 1. 

22. A non-transitory readable medium containing instruc 

tions which when read by a machine causes that machine to 

15 perform the method of claim 20. 

k k k k k 

Case 4:23-cv-00865-SDJ Document 27 Filed 03/15/24 Page 14 of 14 PageID #: 223