Validation of lower limb segmental volumetry with hand-held, self-positioning three-dimensional laser scanner against water displacement

Sandrine Mestre; Florent Veye; Antonia Perez-Martin; Thomas Behar; Jean Triboulet; Nicolas Berron; Christophe Demattei; Isabelle Quéré

doi:10.1016/j.jvsv.2013.08.002

Validation of lower limb segmental volumetry with hand-held, self-positioning three-dimensional laser scanner against water displacement

J Vasc Surg Venous Lymphat Disord. 2014 Jan;2(1):39-45. doi: 10.1016/j.jvsv.2013.08.002. Epub 2013 Nov 5.

Authors

Sandrine Mestre¹, Florent Veye², Antonia Perez-Martin³, Thomas Behar⁴, Jean Triboulet², Nicolas Berron⁵, Christophe Demattei⁶, Isabelle Quéré⁷

Affiliations

¹ Internal and Vascular Medicine Department, Montpellier University Hospital, Montpellier, France; Dysfunctions of Vascular Interfaces Laboratory EA2992, Montpellier 1, University, Montpellier and Nimes, France. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Montpellier Laboratory of Informatics, Robotics, and Microelectronics, Montpellier, France.
³ Dysfunctions of Vascular Interfaces Laboratory EA2992, Montpellier 1, University, Montpellier and Nimes, France; Vascular Medicine Clinics and Laboratory, Nimes University Hospital, Nimes, France.
⁴ Internal and Vascular Medicine Department, Montpellier University Hospital, Montpellier, France.
⁵ MARA-Process, Montpellier, France.
⁶ Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Public Health, and Medical Informatics, Nimes University Hospital, Nimes, France.
⁷ Internal and Vascular Medicine Department, Montpellier University Hospital, Montpellier, France; Dysfunctions of Vascular Interfaces Laboratory EA2992, Montpellier 1, University, Montpellier and Nimes, France; Clinical Investigation Center, INSERM CIC 1001, Montpellier University Hospital, Montpellier, France.

PMID: 26992967
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvsv.2013.08.002

Abstract

Background: Measurement of limb volume is helpful for the evaluation and follow-up of edema, especially in patients with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) or lymphedema. Water displacement (WD) is the reference method for limb volumetry but is not really suitable for clinical routine. Indirect volumetry based on circumference measurements as well as the more expansive but automatic optoelectronic techniques do not allow detailed measurement at the extremity of the limb.

Methods: We used a self-positioning laser scanner with dynamic referencing for acquisition and real-time three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the lower limb volume in 30 patients with CVI, 30 patients with lymphedema, and 30 healthy controls. Two independent observers performed either one or two laser scans, whose results were tested for intra- and interobserver reproducibility and compared with WD volumetry by Lin's concordance correlation coefficient and Bland and Altman graphic analysis.

Results: Automatic volume calculation from 3D laser scanning data failed in one patient with major lymphedema. Lin's concordance correlation coefficient was 0.99 and 0.98, respectively, for intraobserver no. 1 and no. 2, 0.98 for interobserver reproducibility, and 0.98 and 0.96, respectively, for observer no. 1 and observer no. 2 vs WD comparison. The 3D laser scanning yielded 1.99% precision. Accuracy was 3.12% for observer no. 1 and 2.71% for observer no. 2, laser scanning values being 90 mL higher than WD, which could be attributed to the different posture during measurement.

Conclusions: Three-dimensional laser scanning is accurate and reproducible, and appears suitable for the evaluation of limb volume in patients with CVI or lymphedema.