First clinical experience with BMD assessment in vertebrae using dual-energy CT

Dual-energy CT (DECT) can be performed with state-of-the- art dual-source CT (DSCT) scanners and allows for assessing bone mineral density (BMD). In this work, we present first clinical experience with in vivo BMD assessment of vertebrae based on DECT data which has been acquired with a state-of-the-art DSCT scanner in the clinical routine. In contrast to previous work where we did in vitro tests of our method, we apply it her for the first time to in vivo data and prove the feasibility of our technique in a clinical setting. For 25 patients, DXA as well as DECT data have been acquired and BMD of vertebrae was assessed. Advantages of DECT are its 3D capabilities allowing to compute the spatial BMD distribution and to focus the examination on the trabecular bone. Correlations between both imaging techniques regarding the averaged BMD values per vertebra are only moderate.