Objective:

To investigate the reproducibility of an adapted optical leg volume meter and to determine intraindividual volume changes of the lower legs on separate days and in the course of a working day in healthy volunteers.

Design:

Adaptation of a standard optical leg volume meter, ‘volometer’, and calibration on an artificial leg and on volunteers. Study of the behaviour of lower leg volume in volunteers.

Setting:

Free University Hospital, Amsterdam.

Participants:

Thirty-six healthy volunteers, workers in the hospital.

Intervention:

The lower leg volume was measured on five or six different days at the beginning and end of a full working day.

Main outcome measures:

Reproducibility of the adapted volometer, and volume changes of the lower legs at different times.

Results:

Adaptation of the volometer resulted in a reproducibility of 0.07% in an artificial leg and of 0.46% in volunteers. A significant increase (p<0.0001) in the volume of the lower legs in the course of the day was observed.

Conclusion:

Adaptation of the optical leg volume meter resulted in reproducible recordings of the volume of lower legs. In the course of the day an increase in volume occurs.

Search results

Lower Limb Volume Measurements: Standardization and Reproducibility of an Adapted Optical Leg Volume Meter