3D-DXA Cortical and Trabecular Parameters: Agreement Between Hologic Densitometers in Clinical Practice

TL;DR

This study shows that three-dimensional cortical and trabecular bone parameters derived from Hologic densitometers are highly consistent across different models and clinical centers, supporting their clinical reliability.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive assessment of inter-scanner agreement for 3D-DXA derived femur parameters across multiple Hologic densitometer models.

Findings

Strong inter-device agreement with R^2 > 0.91.

Biases less than 2.9 mg/cm^3 for key bone density measures.

No significant bias between different scanners.

Abstract

Background: Three-dimensional dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry reconstructs three-dimensional maps of the proximal femur's density distribution from standard hip scans, enabling the estimation of trabecular and cortical bone parameters. The aim of this study was to assess the agreement of these three-dimensional cortical and trabecular femur parameters across different series and models of Hologic densitometers. Methodology: The study cohort was composed of 103 women and men recruited from four clinical centers in Spain and France. Subjects had duplicated hip scans using different Hologic scanners from the Horizon, Discovery, and QDR4500 series. Analyses were performed using 3D-Shaper software. Inter-scanner agreement was evaluated using Deming regression and Bland-Altman analysis. Results: The parameters demonstrated strong inter-device agreement across all clinical centers and scanner models, with coefficients of determination greater than 0.91. Absolute biases were less than 2.5 mg$/$cm$^3$ for integral volumetric bone mineral density, less than 2.9 mg$/$cm$^3$ for trabecular volumetric bone mineral density, and less than 1.7 mg$/$cm$^2$ for cortical surface bone mineral density. No statistically significant bias was found between parameters obtained from different scanners. Furthermore, the observed bias was lower than the expected least significant change, indicating that inter-scanner variability across these devices is not clinically significant. Conclusions: This study demonstrated excellent agreement for standard and three-dimensional derived bone parameters at the hip across Hologic densitometers. These findings support their suitability for clinical use.