Publication

Use of Internal References for Assessing CT Density Measurements of the Pelvis as Replacement for Use of an External Phantom

Bone

Skeletal Radiol. 2015 Nov; 44(11):1597-602.

Authors:

M.F. Boomsma, I. Slouwerhof, J.A. van Dalen, M.A. Edens, D. Mueller, J. Milles, M. Maas

Summary

The study evaluated whether internal fat/muscle references could replace external phantoms for CT density calibration in 50 patients with metal-on-metal hip replacements.

Key findings:

  • HU Agreement: Internal fat (−91.5 ± 7.0 HU) and muscle (59.2 ± 6.2 HU) references showed excellent correlation with phantom values (fat: −90.9 ± 7.8 HU; muscle: 60.0 ± 7.2 HU), with intra-class correlation coefficients of 0.90 (fat) and 0.84 (muscle).
  • Clinical Utility: Internal calibration eliminated the need for external phantoms, enabling retrospective analysis of CT scans without additional hardware.
  • Implications: This method allows standardized density measurements across patients and timepoints, enhancing opportunistic use of clinical CT data.

The study concludes that internal references are equally reliable for CT density measurements, streamlining clinical workflows.

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