Body composition parameters:

See what the seca mBCA measurement values can do for you

The seca mBCA calculates a whole range of vital body composition parameters with medical precision. A multicenter validation study with over 250 multiethnic subjects and only the best available reference methods verifies the high accuracy as well as reproducibility. In the following, we have listed the most important seca mBCA parameters and illustrate their essential importance for the everyday work in different medical fields.

FM/FFM

Fat Mass / Fat-Free Mass

The medically precise distinction between fat mass and fat-free mass is important when weight changes occur. This is especially true for patients that are overweight, obese and malnourished.
The development of fat mass is thus valuable for weight management, in diabetology, hospital nutrition or general health.
A metabolic unhealthy person with insulin resistance, for example, nearly exclusively loses water when commencing with weight reduction treatments, which is why assessing fat mass individually is so essential to prevent misinterpretations.
Interpreting fat mass is also inevitable in malnourished patients, which can be found in numerous medical fields such as oncology, cardiology, nephrology but also in psychology when it comes to anorexia nervosa or bulimia.
Another interesting area of application for assessing or monitoring fat mass is in the sports medicine field when it comes to determining the fitness level or controlling trainings.

SMM

Skeletal Muscle Mass

The development and retention of skeletal muscle mass plays an important role in malnourished patients, in the area of sports medicine, and in the reduction of body weight. The display shows the individual values for each of the patients’ extremities as well as their torso.
Quantifying muscle mass is essential when monitoring weight changes in overweight and obese subjects.
It is essential that the majority of existing muscle mass is preserved when reducing weight in weight management settings, in diet programs in diabetology, cardiology and hospital nutrition in general.
Especially malnourished patients with sarcopenic and cachectic states - often found in oncology, cardiology, nephrology require an adequate amount of muscle mass to reduce morbidity and mortality. Sarcopenia and cachexia are also found in psychology when it comes to anorexia nervosa or bulimia.
Another interesting area of application for assessing or monitoring muscle mass is in the sports medicine field when it comes to determining the fitness level and controlling trainings, physiotherapies and rehabilitation.

VAT

Visceral Fat

The higher the visceral fat value, the higher the risk of cardiometabolic illnesses. With the seca mBCA, negative trends can be detected early in order to initiate corresponding treatments and therapies.
The easy and quick assessment of visceral fat is an essential brick for estimating the cardiometabolic risk.
It has therefore become an established value especially overweight and obese patients.
The medical fields wanting to obtain visceral fat values are bariatrics, weight management, diabetology, hospital nutrition, cardiology and general health.

BCC

Body Composition Chart

The BCC displays fat mass and fat-free mass in a graphic which enables you to interpret body composition at a glance.
In addition, a series of measurements can be used to determine whether the fat mass or fat-free mass contributed to any weight change.
It is therefore an essential tool in weight management, diabetology, cardiology, general health or hospital nutrition when it comes to losing weight.
In malnourished individuals, for example in oncology, cardiology, nephrology but also in psychology - when it comes to anorexia nervosa or bulimia - the Body Composition Chart delivers accurate and important information on body composition changes.
It helps to determine the fitness level and to control physiotherapies and rehabilitation procedures in sports medicine.

TBW/ECW

Total Body Water/Extracellular Water

The medically precise assessment of total body water and extracellular water is essential in nephrology to better evaluate the dry weight.
The distribution of fluids detects edema which are often found in cardiology or other fields of internal medicine like pneumology or hepatorenal in nephrology patients, which mostly also require hospital nutrition aid.
In sports medicine the management of fluids is valuable for fluid management to prevent dehydration and maximize individual performance.
The determination of body water also helps to better understand weight loss situations in weight management, diabetes, cardiology or general health where great amounts of water are lost when commencing diets due to for example insulin resistances.

BIVA

Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis

Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis (BIVA) delivers information on the amount of body fluids water and phase angle (marker for cell metabolism) at the same time.
It therefore evaluates the hydration status, which is valuable in sports medicine, but also may identify patients with fluid overloads, which are typically found in nephrology or cardiology.
On the other hand it delivers information on the nutritional status and has proven to be valuable in weight management, diabetology, oncology, but also in psychology when it comes to anorexia nervosa or bulimia.
In general health the BIVA readings allows to categorize patients and allows to draw hypothesizes, which can be verified with specific additional tests.

PA

Phase Angle

Phase angle correlates with the nutritional and functional (metabolic) status of individuals
A sound nutritional state as well as a healthy metabolism result in a high phase angle value.
It has proven to show disease severity, especially in oncology, nephrology and cardiology and HIV
Low phase angle results in apparently healthy, young individuals should be followed up by differentiated diagnosis (blood tests, etc.)
This is important for general health during routine checkups, but also in sports medicine for the detection of exhaustive states.
As low phase angle values also correlate with malnutrition it is an important marker in psychology when it comes to anorexia nervosa or bulimia or in hospital nutrition in general.