Improving the accuracy of X-ray absorptiometry imaging measurements of bone mineral density for the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis

双能X线骨密度仪(DXA)是目前诊断和治疗骨质疏松症的金标准方法。然而，由于骨周围软组织的不同瘦度和脂肪成分，DXA测量骨密度(BMD)会受到重大误差的影响。这些错误导致对骨质疏松症的频繁误诊，以及未能针对最有需要的患者进行适当的治疗。克罗梅克和伦敦国王学院打算开发创新的算法，以解锁由DEXA的多光谱探测器捕获的额外信息，但目前这些过时的方法没有利用这些信息。这将使BMD测量的噪音降低有一个阶段性的变化，在骨质疏松症的诊断和治疗方面取得突破。该项目将首先确定成像系统的要求，然后进行计算机模拟，以开发和测试方法。将建立一个简单的硬件系统来证明该系统在现实生活中的可行性，并由世界领先的骨密度测量专家进行验证。

Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) imaging is currently the gold standard method for the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis. However, DXA measurements of bone mineral density (BMD) are affected by significant errors due to the variable lean and fat composition of the soft tissue surrounding bone. These errors lead to the frequent misdiagnosis of osteoporosis and failure to properly target treatments on the patients most in need.Kromek and King's College London intend to develop innovative algorithms to unlock the extra information captured by DEXA's multispectral detectors but currently not utilised by the outdated methods. This will see a step change in the reduction in noise of the BMD measure, making a breakthrough in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis.The project will start by defining the requirements of the imaging system, followed by computer simulations which will develop and test the methods. A simple hardware system will be built to prove the real-life feasibility of the system, verified by a world-leading expert on bone densitometry..