The ability to measure body composition, as reflected in body fat percentage, is essential for diagnosis, treatment, and research investigation related to obesity, malnutrition, eating disorders, diabetes, heart disease, athletic training, and physical fitness. A method for body composition measurement which brings Archimedes' principle "on dry land" will be developed. Rather than determining the volume of subjects by immersion in water, the differential buoyancy acting on subjects in safely breathable atmospheres which differ in density will be determined. This method will not require the cooperation of the patient and does not require the measurement of residual lung volume. Furthermore, it is independent of the distribution pattern of fat and does not require calibration against another method. This Phase I project is aimed at optimizing the precision, speed, and reliability of the method through automation of the measurement process.
