Clinical evaluation of a high-resolution new peripheral quantitative computerized tomography (pQCT) scanner for the bone densitometry at the lower limbs

Abstract

Precision, long-term stability, linearity and accuracy of the x-ray peripheral quantitative computerized tomographic (pQCT) bone scanner XCT 3000 (Norland-Stratec Medical Sys.) were evaluated using the European Forearm Phantom (EFP). In vivo measurements were assessed using a standardized procedure at the distal femur and the distal tibia. In the patient-scan mode, the spatial resolution of the system was lp/mm as measured at the 10% level of the modulation transfer function (MTF). The contrast-detail diagram (CDD) yielded a minimal difference in attenuation coefficient (AC) of 0.07 at an object size of 0.5 mm. The effective dose for humans was calculated to be less than 1.5 Sv per scan. Short-term precision in vivo was expressed as root mean square standard deviation of paired measurements of 20 healthy volunteers (%). At the distal femur total volumetric density (ToD) and total cross-sectional area (ToA) were found to be less sensitive to positioning errors than at the distal tibia. Structural parameters like the polar cross-sectional moment of inertia or the polar cross-sectional moment of resistance showed a good short-term precision at the distal femur ( and 1.4%). The relation between the two skeletal sites with respect to or showed a high coefficient of determination ( and 0.74).