A Pilot Study of Determining the Reliability of a New Three-Dimensional Scanning System for Measuring Truncal Thickness After Breast Cancer Surgery

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K21164
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0908:Society medicine, nursing, and related fields
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: Hisano Fumiya 名古屋大学, 医学系研究科(保健), 助教 (50914149)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: リンパ浮腫 / 3Dスキャナー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

As a preliminary investigation into the development of a new method for measuring truncal lymphedema, this study aimed to investigate the reliability in posterior truncal thickness using a three-dimensional (3D) scanning system.
This observational study included 21 women who had undergone a mastectomy for breast cancer. The 3D images of every subject's trunk were captured by a handheld 3D scanner at two time points. The acquired 3D images were used to calculate the differences in thickness between the affected and unaffected sides at eight points on the trunk. The reliability was determined by checking for agreement between the trials (intraclass correlation coefficient) and by investigating the presence of systematic bias between the measurement error and true value (Bland-Altman analysis). Analysis indicated that fair-to-excellent reliability was shown at the five points in the middle of the trunk.

Free Research Field

看護ケア

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

乳がん手術後の合併症であるリンパ浮腫は、上肢だけでなく、その周辺の体幹部にも発症することが報告されている。しかし、体幹部についてはその浮腫の形状（腫れ）を定量的に評価する方法が開発されておらず、主観的評価のみでケアが行われている状況である。本研究では体幹部の腫れを評価する方法を開発、検討した。本測定方法で良好な信頼性が示され、今後、測定方法を確立を目指すための基礎データとなった。