Prediction of the rib cage volume and thorax density from anthropometric data.

Abstract

Rib cage volume and thorax density are useful both for clinical issues (Sverzellati et al. 2013) and for multi-segmental body modeling. In the latter case mean density is generally assumed, using data from Dempster et al (Dempster 1955), which could be over-evaluated due to the lack of consideration of lung density. Bi-planar X-Ray system (Dubousset et al. 2010) combined with 3D reconstruction allows to get both the rib cage and the external body shape. The aim of this study is to estimate the rib cage volume compared to the thorax volume and to propose a refined thorax density estimation.