A study, carried out in collaboration between Robert Gordon University, the University of Aberdeen and the NHS Grampian Eating Disorder Service (NGEDS), championed the use of 3D laser scanning. The study looked into the body image perception of female patients with eating disorders (ED) patients and means to treat them through both 2D digital photography – which is widely used in the treatment of ED patients today – and 3D scanning.
Dr Arthur Stewart, of the Centre for Obesity Research and Epidemiology (CORE) from RGU’s Institute for Health and Welfare Research, was the principal researcher of this pilot study, which was funded by the Chief Scientist Office and has recently been published in the British Journal of Psychology. The study aimed to test the acceptability among ED patients to participate in 3D scanning, and to acquire novel data on the comparison between 2D imaging (measuring area from the frontal view only as is standard in current practice) and 3D scanning (measuring volume of all aspects of the body) and the corresponding 2D assessment of perception and dissatisfaction of patient body image. The researchers concluded that treatment tools based on 2D representations might fail to completely depict the true size of
specific body regions. Dr Stewart explained, “All existing methods for estimating perception accuracy or body dissatisfaction are based on 2D images, and the literature abounds with poorer estimations such as line drawings or silhouettes which are not specific to the patient in question. Quantifying body shape via 3D scanning could offer a robust scientific platform from which to establish which body regions patients are dissatisfied with and so develop the basis for new treatment interventions of EDS.”
The pilot research also sought to investigate the willingness of patients to be scanned. Of the 71 per cent of patients scanned, none failed to complete the procedure. As such, compliance among patients was considered high, despite patients’ anxiety due to their body image issues. However, Dr Stewart cautioned, “Although 3D scanning holds the promise for being a better technique because it more fully represents the actual person in question, the process of patients confronting actual 3D representations of themselves is likely to make those with body image issues anxious. In addition, software approaches for assessing perception or dissatisfaction using a 3D shape are infinitely more complex.
EH News Bureau