Automated Body Composition Analysis Using DAFS Express on 2D MRI Slices at L3 Vertebral Level.

ABSTRACT: Body composition analysis is vital in assessing health conditions such as obesity, sarcopenia, and metabolic syndromes. MRI provides detailed images of skeletal muscle (SM), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), but their manual segmentation is labor-intensive and limits clinical applicability. This study validates an automated tool for MRI-based 2D body composition analysis (Data Analysis Facilitation Suite (DAFS) Express), comparing its automated measurements with expert manual segmentations using UK Biobank data. A cohort of 399 participants from the UK Biobank dataset was selected, yielding 423 single L3 slices for analysis. DAFS Express performed automated segmentations of SM, VAT, and SAT, which were then manually corrected by expert raters for validat

SUBMITTER: Akella V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12920845 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature