Quantitative metrics of bone quality determined at the distal radius using photon-counting CT.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the accuracy of photon-counting-detector CT (PCD-CT) at deriving bone morphometric indices and demonstrate utility in vivo in the distal radius.

Methods: Ten cadaver wrists were scanned using PCD-CT and high-resolution peripheral quantitative CT (HRpQCT). Correlation between PCD-CT and HRpQCT morphometric indices was determined. Agreement was assessed by Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (Lin's CCC). Wrist PCD-CTs of patients between 02/2022 and 08/2023 were also evaluated for clinical utility. Morphometric indices of the in vivo distal radii were extracted and compared between patients with or without osteoporosis.

Results: In cadavers, strong correlation between PCD-CT and HRpQCT was observed for cortical thickness (Spearman correlation, ρ, 0.85), trabecular spacing (ρ = 0.98), and trabecular bone volume fraction (ρ = 0.68). Moderate negative correlation (ρ =  - 0.49) was observed for trabecular thickness. PCD-CT shows good agreement to HRpQCT for cortical thickness, trabecular spacing, and trabecular bone volume fraction (Lin's CCC = 0.80, 0.94, and 0.86, respectively) but poor agreement (Lin's CCC =  - 0.1) for trabecular thickness. In forty participants (31 adults and 9 pediatric), bone morphometrics indices for cortical thickness, trabecular thickness, trabecular spacing, and trabecular bone volume fraction were 0.99 mm (IQR, 0.89-1.06), 0.38 mm (IQR, 0.25-0.40), 0.82 mm (IQR, 0.72-1.05), and 0.28 (IQR, 0.25-0.33), respectively. Patients with osteoporosis had statistically significantly larger trabecular spacing (p = 0.025) and lower trabecular volumetric bone mineral density (p = 0.042).

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the agreement of PCD-CT to HRpQCT in cadavers of most cortical and bone morphometrics examined and provide in vivo quantitative metrics of bone microarchitecture from routine clinical PCD-CT images of the distal radius.