Who is this product aimed at? People with medical conditions, or "fitness enthusiasts"? What's the relation between "muscle quality" and strength? Are there any use cases for powerlifters, for example?
Skulpt Aim: Device to measure muscle fitness with one touch
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Re: Skulpt Aim: Device to measure muscle fitness with one touch
#12Hi everyone. I'm the CEO of Skulpt and happy to answer your questions:
@bcbrown The Skulpt Aim is "aimed" at anyone who wants to improve or maintain their fitness. Prior to developing this consumer device, we developed a medical one that uses some of the same core technology and is actually being used at more than 30 of the nation's top hospitals in clinical research. The Skulpt Aim, however, is not intended to diagnose any medical condition. It's the first device on the market that will allow you to measure your fat percentage and muscle quality on any part of your body.
Regarding your second question, muscle quality (MQ) is a measure of strength and definition. There is a high correlation between MQ and normalized strength (i.e. strength over weight), meaning that someone smaller with strong muscles for their size can have a similar MQ to someone larger with stronger muscles, but two people who are about the same size and strength will have similar MQs. Also, similar to your IQ, the average person has an MQ of 100 for each muscle and a pretty fit person will have MQ scores of 120-140 or even higher.
Re: Skulpt Aim: Device to measure muscle fitness with one touch
#13Thanks cuz! Happy to answer any questions that come up.
Hey Jose, I've already backed your project and I have a few questions.
What does "Muscle Quality" mean and what do you mean by "Muscle Fitness"?
Does MQ give me any information about type 1/2a/2b fibers?
Is this product in any way useful for someone training for high level athletics?
Can you compare the bodyfat accuracy of the product with other methods (such as calipers)?
Will I be able to access the raw data instead of the MQ reading?
Re: Skulpt Aim: Device to measure muscle fitness with one touch
#14@robertfw thanks for your thoughtful question. My co-founder, Dr. Seward Rutkove, is actually a neurology professor at Harvard Medical School who specializes in neuromuscular disorders and the core technology we use was born out of his frustration that there were no good tools for measuring muscle health and fitness. As I mentioned previously, we have developed a medical version of this technology that is being used in clinical research, but the Skulpt Aim is intended to be used to track your muscle fitness.
Re: Skulpt Aim: Device to measure muscle fitness with one touch
#15@chadly That's a great question. The device allows for up to 6 users and a really cool feature is that the light ring is personalized for each profile. So when you turn it on, you will be able to immediately tell who's profile it's set to (e.g. blue for you, violet for your wife) and you can easily select a different user with the side buttons. You'll each have separate profiles so you can track your progress and get tailored advice.
Re: Skulpt Aim: Device to measure muscle fitness with one touch
#16The 'average' guy in the definition of MQ looks like someone who goes to the gym only 4-5 times per week rather than 7-8 times.
I find it slightly offputting to show that as the baseline.
Re: Skulpt Aim: Device to measure muscle fitness with one touch
#17@biscarch All great questions. Muscle quality (MQ) is a measure of your muscle's strength and definition. Leaner, stronger muscles are characterized by having larger muscle fibers with less fatty tissue infiltrated. MQ correlates strongly to weight-normalized strength and as you exercise and get stronger and leaner, you'll see your MQ go up. At this moment, we can't tease out the differences between different types of muscle fibers, but as we gather more data we believe there is a good chance we will be able to. We think this product will be extremely useful to high-level athletes since it will allow you to optimize your training by quantitatively measuring and tracking the impact of different exercise regiments on your muscles. You'll be able to see when you're plateauing, for example, so you know it's time to incorporate some muscle confusion. We have compared the fat measurements to underwater (hydrostatic) weighing (the gold standard), Bodpods, skinfold calipers and bioimpedance scales and found that our errors were much lower than skinfold calipers and bioimpedance scales by about 3-4x. And on top of that, you get data on individual muscles in a fast, easy, and private way. As far as the availability of "raw" data, we're playing that by ear right now and it will depend on user feedback. We'll certainly consider it if there is a lot of demand. Thanks for all of your interest!
Re: Skulpt Aim: Device to measure muscle fitness with one touch
#18In my experience sensors like this are inaccurate compared to calipers or a hydrostatic body testing (if you can find a place or mobile van to do this).
How would your method differ, and how would it produce more accurate results?
Edit: Does it need to be a standalone device or could it be an attachment like a case on an iPhone?
Re: Skulpt Aim: Device to measure muscle fitness with one touch
#19@robertfw thanks for your thoughtful question. My co-founder, Dr. Seward Rutkove, is actually a neurology professor at Harvard Medical School who specializes in neuromuscular disorders and the core technology we use was born out of his frustration that there were no good tools for measuring muscle health and fitness. As I mentioned previously, we have developed a medical version of this technology that is being used…
Translation: @robertfw, no, that is not an intended use of this product.
I understand the reason for the marketing speak, but vague non-answers like that really turn me off.
Re: Skulpt Aim: Device to measure muscle fitness with one touch
#20@wil421 The Skulpt Aim is actually unlike any other device on the market. It uses a technique called Electrical Impedance Myography that my co-founder Dr. Seward Rutkove began developing over a decade ago at Harvard Medical School. Four years ago we combined his background in neurology with my engineering background to refine this technology and develop a system that not only gives you information about your fat content, but also your muscle quality. The first system we developed is medical in nature and is being used by pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers at some of the top hospitals across the US. The Skulpt Aim leverages all of the knowledge we have gained over the last decade to provide consumers with a tool that gives them fat percentage and muscle quality for individual muscles. The device uses patent-pending sensors and algorithms licensed from Harvard and MIT and others developed internally to calculate accurate indices of muscle fitness. Because the device is placed directly on the muscle you measure, it gives you very accurate data on that specific muscle. I'm curious, when you say "sensors like these", what in particular are you referring to? Regarding your second question, this first generation embodiment is a stand alone device, but we are certainly looking at other implementations for down the line.