Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry is regarded as the gold standard for osteoporosis diagnosing, but its system default measurement method has large errors on the measurement of small animal bone density.
OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of different measurement methods of dual energy X ray absorptiometry on the accuracy of bone mineral density measurement.
METHODS: Whole body scan of 6-7 months female SD rats was performed by dual energy X ray absorptiometry. Custom manual rectangular pattern, custom manual oval way and system default standard way were used respectively to measure the bone mineral density of rat body, head and spine.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference of the body, head and spine bone mineral density measured by custom manual elliptic way and system default standard way (P > 0.05), while the bone mineral density measured by custom manual rectangular pattern and the system default standard methods was significantly different (P < 0.01). The manual elliptic way and the system default standard way of dual-energy X ray absorptiometry have little effect on the measurement results, but the custom manual rectangular pattern has large error. Manually elliptic way can be considered as one of the analysis method after small animal bone mineral density measurement.