Patent ID: 7174000
Filing Date: 2007-02-06
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method for measuring a three-dimensional density distribution in a bone, comprising the steps of: disposing a bone to be measured in a region of a rotational axis of a measurement arrangement having an x-ray source and a two-dimensional radiation detector, disposed substantially opposite said x-ray source, rotatable around said rotational axis; irradiating a volume, comprised of voxels, of said bone with x-rays from said x-ray source while rotating said measurement arrangement around said rotational axis through an angle between 180° and 300°, and detecting, with said radiation detector, x-rays attenuated by said bone at a plurality of rotational angles of said measurement arrangement; at each of said rotational angles, and for each voxel, electronically calculating a density value dependent on said attenuated x-rays; and from said density values, electronically calculating an image of said volume representing a density distribution in said bone in said volume.