A large‐angle coherent/Compton scattering method for measurement in vitro of trabecular bone mineral concentration

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Abstract
Experiments and related theoretical deductions on coherent/Compton scattering of 59.5-keV Am241 gamma line by bone-like materials are described. A photon scattering mineralometer (PSM) can attain the best working conditions when it operates in a backscattering geometry mode. The large scattering angle, .vtheta. = 135.degree., allowed a very compact source-detector device to be assembled. The relative sensitivity at 135.degree. is .simeq. 1.7 and .simeq. 6 times bigger than at 90.degree. and 45.degree., respectively. The performances of the .vtheta. = 135.degree. PSM were experimentally investigated; i.e., in a measuring time of 103 s, a .simeq. 5.permill. statistical precision for bone-like materials, such as K2HPO4-water solutions, was obtained. The large-angle PSM device seems therefore to be very promising for trabecular bone mineral density measurements in vivo in peripheral anatomic sites.