Gamma-ray scattering for mandibular bone density measurement

There has been considerable interest in the measurement of bone density in the mandible, either to study bone resorption following tooth loss or to determine the relationship between mandibular and skeletal bone mineral density. Measurements mostly have been made on dental radiographs but more significant correlations between mandibular and skeletal bone density have been obtained when more sophisticated techniques have been used, such as quantitative CT and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. The present work investigates the feasibility of using gamma-ray scattering measurements to estimate mandibular bone density. Using a phantom to simulate the jaw, an 241Am source and a hyperpure germanium detector it is shown that bone density may be measured with a precision of about 1%.