Addressing Challenges of Opportunistic Computed Tomography Bone Mineral Density Analysis

Computed tomography (CT) offers advanced biomedical imaging of the body and is broadly utilized for clinical diagnosis. Traditionally, clinical CT scans have not been used for volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) assessment; however, computational advances can now leverage clinically obtained CT data for the secondary analysis of bone, known as opportunistic CT analysis. Initial applications focused on using clinically acquired CT scans for secondary osteoporosis screening, but opportunistic CT analysis can also be applied to answer research questions related to vBMD changes in response to various disease states. There are several considerations for opportunistic CT analysis, including scan acquisition, contrast enhancement, the internal calibration technique, and bone segmentation, but there remains no consensus on applying these methods. These factors may influence vBMD measures and therefore the robustness of the opportunistic CT analysis. Further research and standardization efforts are needed to establish a consensus and optimize the application of opportunistic CT analysis for accurate and reliable assessment of vBMD in clinical and research settings. This review summarizes the current state of opportunistic CT analysis, highlighting its potential and addressing the associated challenges.