Plain x-ray bone densitometry apparatus and method
US6064716A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 2, 1999 |
| Grant date | May 16, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 2, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N2223/419
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Non-invasive quantitative plain radiographic evaluation of bone in a bony locale of a body is performed by subjecting the bony locale to a broadband collimated x-ray beam having energy in the range of about 20 keV to 150 keV. Alongside the bony locale is a material phantom. An energy-selective multiple-film detector cassette containing at least two films is placed under the body and material phantom to receive the transmitted x-ray beam. The films in the cassette are developed and digitally scanned to produce sets of material phantom data and sets of bone data. The data sets are then processed with a feedforward neural network whereby to generate the indicated estimate of bone status, namely, bone-mineral density. In an alternative embodiment, an independent measurement is made of the total tissue thickness, and input to the neural network to achieve higher accuracy and precision.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.