Assessment of Bone Density and Microarchitecture In Vivo Using High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography
Summary of recommendations
Scan acquisition and analysis
Reference | Elastic modulus (MPa) | Boundary conditions | Yield criterion (critical strain, critical volume) |
First-generation HR-pQCT | |||
Pistoia et al. Bone. 2002/Pistoia et al. J Clin. Dens. 2004* | 10,000 | Axial | 0.7%, 2% |
MacNeil et al. Bone 2008 | 6829 | Uniaxial | 0.7%, 2% |
Mueller et al. Bone 2009 | 6829 | Uniaxial | 0.7%, 7.5% |
Vilayphiou et al. Bone 2010† | Trabecular bone: 17,000 Cortical bone: 20,000 |
Axial | 0.35%, 2% |
Second-generation HR-pQCT | |||
Whittier et al. J Biomech 2018 | 8748 | Uniaxial | 0.7%, 2% |
Arias-Moreno Osteoporosis Int 2019 | 10,000 | Axial | 1.0%, 5% |
† Yield criterion with associated tissue properties and boundary conditions were not explicitly validated in this study.
Reporting results
Standardized nomenclature proposed here should be used for reporting results. Nomenclature proposed in Tables 2, 3, and 5 should be used, and use of direct or indirect measurement techniques should be clearly indicated. The minimum parameters to describe trabecular bone morphology should include trabecular bone volume fraction, and trabecular number, thickness, and separation; for cortical bone morphology, cortical thickness, and cortical porosity should be reported.
Table 2 Definition, units, andmeasurement ofmethods of common whole bone and cortical microarchitecture parameters obtained from available HRpQCT
systems. Italicized parameters are the minimum set to be reported when describing cortical bone morphology.
![](https://54d4f314-8f94-415c-acb7-fd0a6332f070.s3.amazonaws.com/331862/331862__Screen%20Shot%202021-06-21%20at%2011.20.26%20AM__-2109204948.png?X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAU2BE4PNFKE2WZV7V%2F20240908%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20240908T002249Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=86400&X-Amz-Signature=5e2d494179ab5d26615387ae434f5db5ff525d4197135f7511bde6c8c80a9483)
* Description of direct 3D morphological method of measurement
† Description of derived (indirect) morphological method of measurement
‡ StrAx is a derived method with analysis bone compartments defined differently than the extended cortical analysis and is not integrated into the Scanco workflow
Ideally the minimum set of parameters reported are bolded.
Table 3 Definition, units, and measurement of methods of common trabecular microarchitecture parameters obtained from available HR-pQCT
systems. Italicized parameters are the minimum set to be reported when describing trabecular bone morphology.
![](https://54d4f314-8f94-415c-acb7-fd0a6332f070.s3.amazonaws.com/331865/331865__Screen%20Shot%202021-06-21%20at%2011.33.42%20AM__-251062971.png?X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAU2BE4PNFKE2WZV7V%2F20240908%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20240908T002249Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=86400&X-Amz-Signature=2566bc96b07d14c68c21e720b3098462551c9c2fca4651afc5a3a081f7051262)
* Description of direct 3D morphological method of measurement
† Description of derived (indirect) morphological method of measurement
Ideally the minimum set of parameters reported are bolded.
Table 5 Definition, units, and measurement of methods of common micro-finite element analysis outcomes obtained from available HR-pQCT systems
![](https://54d4f314-8f94-415c-acb7-fd0a6332f070.s3.amazonaws.com/331866/331866__Screen%20Shot%202021-06-21%20at%2011.37.04%20AM__-18461179.png?X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAU2BE4PNFKE2WZV7V%2F20240908%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20240908T002249Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=86400&X-Amz-Signature=a2bc5d48fbc15fc778fc4e5b5601ea96e7ceb0b9f53d4d498c5aff371e0af850)
Quality control and training
Recommendation Grading
Overview
Title
Assessment of Bone Density and Microarchitecture In Vivo Using High-Resolution Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography
Authoring Organization
American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
Publication Month/Year
May 1, 2020
Last Updated Month/Year
August 29, 2024
Document Type
Guideline
External Publication Status
Published
Country of Publication
US
Inclusion Criteria
Female, Male, Adult, Older adult
Health Care Settings
Ambulatory, Hospital, Radiology services
Intended Users
Physical therapist, clinical researcher, nurse, nurse practitioner, physician, physician assistant
Scope
Assessment and screening, Diagnosis
Diseases/Conditions (MeSH)
D015519 - Bone Density
Keywords
Bone microarchitecture, High-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) , bone density
Source Citation
Whittier, D. E., Boyd, S. K., Burghardt, A. J., Paccou, J., Ghasem-Zadeh, A., Chapurlat, R., … Bouxsein, M. L. (2020). Guidelines for the assessment of bone density and microarchitecture in vivo using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Osteoporosis International. doi:10.1007/s00198-020-05438-5