A coherent/Compton scattering method employing an x-ray tube for measurement of trabecular bone mineral content

Results showed that the x-ray generator could be used as a radiation source in the coherent/Compton scattering method of measuring trabecular bone mineral content. The quasimonoenergetic x-ray beam was produced from the continuous bremsstrahlung radiation with the aid of a spectral filter. Of the two measuring arrangements that were tested, the semiconductor detector geometry appeared to give distinctly more reproducible results than the two NaI detector system. However, to improve the counting efficiency of the coherent radiation, the 'coherent' NaI detector could be replaced by a bore-through scintillation probe (bore diameter about 10mm). By placing the x-ray fluorescence target inside the bore, the yield would be considerably higher. The present method is suitable for TBMC measurements of small animal and human peripheral bones. Errors are discussed in relation to increase of bone size. (U.K.)