Body Composition Analysis
AKERN BIA101 BIVA Assessment in Adelaide
Your health is more than a number on the scales.
At Altaira Allied Health, we use the AKERN BIA101 BIVA, an advanced body composition assessment tool that provides a detailed picture of your body composition, hydration, cellular health and overall wellbeing.
Whether you're working towards a weight management goal, improving your athletic performance, recovering from injury, or simply wanting to better understand your health, our BIA101 BIVA assessment delivers objective data to help guide your next steps.
Book your assessment today with our Accredited Practising Dietitian, Caitlin, and gain insights far beyond your weight.
What is a BIA101 BIVA Assessment?
The AKERN BIA101 BIVA (Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis) is a clinically validated body composition assessment that measures how a safe, low-level electrical signal travels through your body.
The assessment is simple, painless, and takes only a few minutes.
Four small electrodes are placed on your hand and foot while you lie comfortably. Because muscle, fluid and fat conduct electricity differently, the device can provide detailed information about your body's composition and hydration status.
Unlike traditional scales that only measure body weight, BIVA helps us understand what's contributing to that weight and how your body is functioning at a cellular level.
What Does the Assessment Measure?
Following your assessment, you'll receive a comprehensive report outlining key health and performance markers, including:
- Muscle Mass
- Body Fat Percentage
- Hydration Status
- Phase Angle (Cellular Health)
- Body Cell Mass
- Nutritional Status
- Recovery & Performance Markers
These measurements can help identify strengths, areas for improvement, and changes over time.
What Makes BIVA Different?
One of the unique features of the AKERN BIA101 is Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis (BIVA).
BIVA provides valuable insight into:
- Cellular integrity and health
- Hydration balance
- Recovery status
- Training readiness
- Nutritional status
- Overall physiological wellbeing
The assessment goes beyond standard body composition measurements, allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of how your body is functioning.
Advanced Regional Body Analysis
At Altaira Allied Health, we also utilise the Regional Analysis Kit, taking body composition assessment one step further.
This advanced technology allows us to analyse different regions of the body individually, including:
- Upper versus lower body muscle mass
- Left versus right side muscle balance
- Injury-related muscle loss
- Rehabilitation progress
- Performance limitations and opportunities
This information is particularly valuable for athletes, active individuals, and those recovering from injury or surgery.
Who Can Benefit From a BIA101 BIVA Assessment?
Our Body Composition Analysis service may be valuable for:
Weight Management
Track changes in muscle mass, body fat and hydration rather than relying solely on body weight.
Sports Performance
Monitor muscle development, hydration and recovery to optimise training outcomes.
Injury Rehabilitation
Measure rehabilitation progress and identify muscle imbalances throughout recovery.
Healthy Ageing
Monitor muscle mass and cellular health to support strength, function and independence.
Nutrition Planning
Gain objective data that can help guide dietary interventions and health goals.
General Health Monitoring
Develop a clearer understanding of your overall body composition and wellbeing.
Maximise Your Results with a Dietitian Consult
For the most personalised advice, you can bundle your Body Composition Analysis with a consultation from one of our experienced dietitians.
Your dietitian can help interpret your results and provide tailored recommendations relating to:
- Nutrition
- Weight management
- Muscle gain
- Performance
- Recovery
- Long-term health goals
Bundled appointments offer both value and the opportunity to turn your results into an actionable plan.
Preparing for Your Assessment
To ensure the most accurate and reliable results, assessments should be completed under standardised conditions.
We recommend:
- No alcohol for 24 hours prior
- No strenuous exercise for 24 hours prior
- Fasting for 8-10 hours before your appointment
- Emptying your bladder within 30 minutes of your scan
- Wearing light, comfortable clothing
The scan itself is completely painless and takes only a few minutes. Consistent preparation allows for the most meaningful comparison of results over time.
Book Your Body Composition Assessment
If you're ready to better understand your body, optimise your health, or track meaningful progress over time, a BIA101 BIVA assessment can provide the insights you need.
Book in an Initial Consult with our Dietitian to get started.
Meet Your Dietitian
Caitlin Mc Manus is an Accredited Practising Dietitian who brings a deep passion for food, health, and personalised care to the Altaira Allied Health team. A former national-level swimmer, she combines her understanding of performance nutrition with a strong appreciation for the social and cultural role of food. Caitlin has developed expertise supporting clients with neurological conditions, chronic disease, gastrointestinal concerns, women’s health needs, mental health, cancer, healthy ageing, and veterans transitioning from service. She is also dedicated to helping young athletes build healthy, sustainable nutrition habits. Known for her collaborative and practical approach, Caitlin works closely with clients and multidisciplinary teams to create achievable, long term strategies that align with individual lifestyles, goals, and wellbeing.
Body Composition Analysis FAQs
Phase Angle is one of the unique measurements provided by the AKERN BIA101 and reflects cellular health, cell membrane integrity and overall physiological function. It can provide valuable insights into:
- Cellular health and cell membrane integrity
- Recovery status
- Nutritional status
- Training adaptation
- Overall physiological resilience
Monitoring Phase Angle over time can help identify changes in health, nutrition, recovery and physical performance. Your clinician can interpret your Phase Angle result in the context of age-, sex- and activity-specific reference ranges, helping you understand what the result means for your individual health and performance goals.
For the most accurate results, we recommend:
- Avoiding strenuous exercise for 24 hours prior to your appointment
- Avoiding alcohol for 24 hours
- Maintaining normal hydration and meals the day prior
- Arriving to your appointment fasted
- Emptying your bladder before the assessment
Upon booking your appointment, you will be emailed our specific preparation protocol and instructions.
The scan itself typically takes only 1 minute, however appointment times range from 30 to 60 minutes, allowing time for setup, the scan and receiving your report, along with any interpretation or a dietitian consultation depending on which service you booked.
Yes. The AKERN BIA101 uses a very low-level electrical current that cannot be felt and is considered safe for most individuals. If you have any electrical devices implanted, such as a pacemaker or an implantable defibrillator, please call the clinic prior to booking to discuss whether the scan is appropriate for you.
Yes. The scan provides body composition estimates including body fat mass, lean mass and muscle mass. However, one of the key advantages of the AKERN BIA101 is that it also assesses hydration status and cellular health, which many traditional body composition devices cannot. These provide a much deeper understanding of your body composition and overall health than body fat percentage alone.
Absolutely. BIVA is particularly useful for monitoring changes over time, including:
- Muscle gain
- Fat loss
- Hydration status
- Recovery from illness or injury
- Nutrition interventions
- Athletic performance programs
Many clients choose repeat scans every 6-12 weeks to monitor progress.
Yes. When using the Regional Analysis Kit, the AKERN BIA101 can assess body composition and hydration across different body segments, helping identify asymmetries between limbs and monitor rehabilitation or training progress.
Yes. All services include a body composition report outlining your results. Depending on the service selected, you may also receive professional interpretation and personalised recommendations from an Accredited Practising Dietitian.
Yes. DEXA and BIVA provide different information and can complement one another.
While DEXA is useful for measuring bone density and body composition, BIVA provides additional insights into hydration, cellular health, tissue quality and recovery status. Many athletes and health-conscious individuals use BIVA between DEXA scans to monitor ongoing changes in body composition as well.
No. The two technologies provide different information.
DEXA scans are considered the gold standard for measuring body composition and bone mineral density and are diagnostic for conditions such as osteopenia.
BIVA assessments provide additional information about:
- Hydration status
- Cellular health
- Tissue quality
- Recovery status
- Changes over time
Many people choose BIVA as a practical, radiation-free option for ongoing monitoring and progress tracking, as how often you can have a DEXA scan is limited by radiation exposure.
Unlike many home scales and basic body composition devices, the AKERN BIA101 uses raw bioelectrical measurements and BIVA analysis, allowing for a more detailed assessment of hydration, cellular integrity and tissue quality.
This makes it particularly useful for:
- Athletes
- Active individuals
- Weight management
- Clinical nutrition monitoring (malnutrition)
- Healthy ageing
The AKERN BIA101 BIVA device has been validated in studies worldwide, and it is frequently used in research and within the clinical industry to support the diagnosis of conditions such as malnutrition and sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass and strength).