Measurement of bone mineral density using trabecular patterns of conventional X-ray films

Trabecular patterns appearing on conventional X-ray films contain rich information about the bone status and also provide a good window into the bone mineral density. In this paper, we present a simple trabecular parameter, which provides a good estimation of bone mineral density from the conventional X-ray image. The parameter is developed by considering the microscopic mechanism of bone resorption and its effects on the trabecular pattern. When the parameter is applied to the distal radius X-ray image, it provides a good linear correlation with the bone mineral density measured by the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The correlation coefficient is about 0,92 by the linear regression method. (author)