In vivo measurement of radius calcium/phosphorus ratio by X-ray absorptiometry

We describe a new method for assessing the skeletal Ca/P ratio in vivo using X-ray absorptiometry. By placing cerium (Ce) and samarium (Sm) filters in the X-ray beam from a commercial X-ray source (Norland), mean photon energies of 39 and 89 keV were obtained. The instrument was designed to take measurements of the forearm, at a site located at the distal 1/3 of the radius. The system was calibrated with three bone phantoms: Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, Ca(HPO4)(H2O)2 and Ca(HPO4)2(H2O)). The precision for measuring the Ca/P ratio in the human radius was 2.3% CV for a skin dose to the forearm ranging from 0.3 to 0.4 mGy, depending on the width of the arm. The Ca/P ratio of the radius was significantly lower in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis than in premenopausal controls.