Accuracy, precision, and homogeneity effects in the determination of the bone mineral content with dual photon absorptiometry in the heel bone

In this work the distribution of bone mineral content (BMC) in the calcaneus has been studied by means of dual photon absorptiometry. The bone mineral content determined according to the described method is corrected for the amount of fat and lean soft tissue in the path of the radiation beam. It is found that the bone mineral content shows a large variation in the calcaneus. There does, however, exists a homogeneous region in the central part of the calcaneus. The in vitro precision of the technique has been determined to be 1.02%, and the in vivo precision has been found to be 2.8%. The correlation coefficient between ashed bone mass and measured BMC value was 0.97.