Peripheral quantitative computed tomography

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In medicine, peripheral quantitative computed tomography, commonly abbreviated pQCT, is a type of quantitative computed tomography (QCT), used for making measurements of the bone mineral density (BMD) in a peripheral part of the body. It is useful for measuring bone strength.

Comparison to DXA

Unlike most other common techniques for measuring BMD, a pQCT scan is able to measure volumetric bone mineral density, plus other measures such as the stress-strain index (SSI) and the geometry of the bone. DXA is only able to provide the areal bone mineral density.

See also

• Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)

References

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Last updated on Tuesday November 20, 2007 at 09:14:55 PST (GMT -0800)
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