Segmental Assessment and Visualization of Trabecular Bone Mineral Density in Vertebrae

Osteoporosis is a mainly age-related decrease of bone mineral density (BMD) causing a degradation of bone stability and resulting in an increased fracture risk. The most widely used technique for BMD assessment is dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) [BF09]. This 2D imaging technique expresses BMD as a global areal density representing an integral value over both major bone constituents – cortical and trabecular bone. Other, but less frequently used techniques for BMD assessment are quantitative computed tomography[Ada09] and dual energy computed tomography(DECT) – partially using a dual source device [Fe06].