Importance

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Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for determining the circumference of a body. In this case, the apparatus has at least the following elements: a wire which has a known length section of length L.sub.D, a position sensor (4), which is in operative contact with the wire (5) such that it outputs a signal S, as soon as the wire (5) exerts at least a predetermined tensile force Z on the position sensor (4), a drive device (6, 7) for tensioning the length section of the length L.sub.D of the wire along the circumference (2) of the body (3), the drive device (6, 7) being connected to the position sensor (4) such that when the signal S is output, the wire (5) is no longer tensioned, and a distance meter (10), in operative contact with the drive device (6, 7), for measuring the distance W.sub.D traced by the wire (5) as it is tensioned along the circumference (2) of the body (3) by the drive device (6, 7), so that the circumference (2) of the body (3) can be determined from the length L.sub.D, the distance W.sub.D and an apparatus-dependent geometry factor G. In addition, the invention relates to the use of the apparatus according to the invention and the method according to the invention for plethysmography, in particular for determining the circumference of extremities.

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First Claim