DXA Measurements of Fat and Bone Mineral Density in Relation to Depth and Adiposity

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Abstract
The dual energy X-ray absorptiometer (DXA) is most commonly used to determine the bone mineral density of the body, particularly the spine and hips. More recently the software has been developed to allow the discrimination of fat and fat-free soft tissue. Wei and others, have previously compared the measurement of body fat by DXA with other methods for the assessment of body composition and shown it to have good agreement in groups of subjects. However in studies with a Lunar machine it has been suggested that the measured bone mineral and fat mass may vary with depth and that the trends observed may also be influenced by the degree of adiposity 2. In order to study these purported phenomena further, and using a different machine, we have devised an experimental system in which the effects of depth and adiposity on the measured fat content can be independently assessed.