Patent ID: 7203274

Claim:
A multiple-projection, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry apparatus comprising: a first source of a first conical beam of x-rays having photon energies in a first range of photon energies; a second source of a second conical beam of x-rays having photon energies in a second range of photon energies different from the first range of photon energies, the second beam co-located with the first beam; an x-ray receiver comprising an area x-ray detector for detecting x-ray intensity at a plurality of receptors distributed over an area having a length and a width; a subject table substantially transparent to x-rays; means for moving the first source, the second source, and the x-ray receiver sequentially around the subject table to at least three positions, wherein the first conical beam and the second conical beam intersect the subject table at at least three projection angles corresponding to the at least three positions and impinge on the area x-ray detector to provide a pair of images at each of the at least three projection angles for each of one or more longitudinal positions along a subject; and means for constructing a three-dimensional model of a bone based on the at least three pairs of images.