Minimum detectable limits of measuring bone mineral density using an energy dispersive X-ray diffraction system

In the clinical environment, the most common method of assessing bone mineral density (BMD) loss is dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), which relies on the transmission of X-ray photons through the volume of interest. Energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD), which utilises coherent X-ray scattering, potentially is a more accurate method. As part of the development of a precision EDXRD system, an experiment was performed using a range of bone and fat mix phantoms, which were also used for DEXA evaluation. The results are presented here and suggest initial minimum detectable limits of the order of 5% BMD loss for the EDXRD experiment and 10–15% for the DEXA assessment.