Fat to Muscle Ratio Measurements with Dual Energy X Ray Absorbtiometry

TL;DR

This paper introduces a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry method using radioactive sources and energy-sensitive detectors to accurately measure fat-to-muscle ratios in animal models, demonstrating good sensitivity and linearity.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel, efficient dual-energy X-ray method for measuring fat-to-muscle ratios in animals using radioactive excitation and energy-sensitive detection.

Findings

Method is sensitive to fat-to-muscle ratios with good linearity.

Achieves a standard deviation of a few percent in measurements.

Uses a very low x-ray dose of 0.001 mGy.

Abstract

Accurate measurement of the fat-to-muscle ratio in animal model is important for obesity research. An efficient way to measure the fat to muscle ratio in animal model using dual-energy absorptiometry is presented in this paper. A radioactive source exciting x-ray fluorescence from a target material is used to provide the two x-ray energies needed. The x-rays, after transmitting through the sample, are measured with an energy-sensitive Ge detector. Phantoms and specimens were measured. The results showed that the method was sensitive to the fat to muscle ratios with good linearity. A standard deviation of a few percent in the fat to muscle ratio could be observed with the x-ray dose of 0.001 mGy.