European Spine Phantom (ESP)

The standard phantom for quality control in spine bone mineral densitometry by DXA and qCT

Cross-calibration of CT and DXA

Osteoporosis is a condition that develops more rapidly in women after menopause than in men and increases fracture risk due to bone mineral loss and decrease in bone structure. With its anthropomorphic design, ESP is the ideal tool for QC and constancy tests of spine bone mineral density in DXA and qCT.

Accuracy and Repeatability in QC

In BMD examinations, there are specific criteria determined by the World Health Organization to assess the BMD which are the T score and the Z score. Our phantom has been the INTERNATIONAL STANDARD for quality control - accuracy and repeatability - for spinal BMD quantification for more than two decades.

Anthropomorphic Design

Its closely anthropomorphic design with three internal lumbar vertebrae inserts allows for the utilization of standard patient protocols, both, in DXA and qCT. It facilitates checking of the following quantities: area BMD for DXA, vol.BMD, cortical thickness and positioning accuracy for qCT.

European Spine Phantom (ESP) Interactive

Must-have for multi-center studies or single place testing

Must-have for multi-center studies or single place testing

The main body of the phantom consists of water-equivalent resin. The three lumbar spine inserts contain different well-defined amounts of calcium hydroxyapatite (CaHA) to cover the entire physiological range of spongious and cortical bone densities of all age groups

Three vertebrae with different bone mineral content

Three vertebrae with different bone mineral content

Our phantom contains three vertebrae with different specified vol. BMD Spongiosa (L1:0.05 CaHA/cm³, L2: 0.1 CaHA/cm³, L3: 0.2 g CaHA/cm³) and with different DXA area BMD (AP) ( L1:0.5 g CaHA/cm², L2: 1.0 g CaHA/cm², L3: 1.5 g CaHA/cm²).

Accuracy of calibrated values is ± 5 mg/cm² for area BMD and ± 2 mg/cm³ for vol. BMD.

Calibration Curve (HU vs BMD)

Calibration Curve (HU vs BMD)

Bone Mineral Density assessment with QRM Phantoms in qCT

- Position the phantom accurately on the couch in the desired configuration.

- Acquire CT images

- Place several ROIs within the bone inserts (spongious/trabecular part) and measure the mean CT values.

- Create a calibration curve (linear fit) using the measured CT values and the corresponding electron vBMD values provided by the manufacturer.

International reference standard in spine bone mineral densitometry by DXA and qCT

European Spine Phantom, QRM-50100

The main body of the phantom consists of water-equivalent resin. The three lumbar spine inserts contain different well-defined amounts of calcium hydroxyapatite (CaHA) to cover the entire physiological range of spongious and cortical bone densities of all age groups. Each phantom is separately calibrated to the reference standard ESP, containing analytically determined bone mineral densities.

It facilitates checking the reproducibility and accuracy of the following quantities:

Area bone mineral density (area BMD) in g/cm² for DXA
Trabecular and cortical volume bone mineral density (vol. BMD) in g/cm³ for qCT
Cortical thickness in mm for qCT
Positioning accuracy in qCT

Extension rings in different sizes to simulate obese patients are available upon request. Please contact us.

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Technical Specifications

Phantom dimensions:	260 mm x 180 mm
Phantom height:	110 mm
Phantom weight:	4.3 kg
Body material:	water-equivalent material (CTwater: 0 HU @80 - 140 kV*)
Phantom accuracy:	All CaHA materials are within ±5% of specified values.
Accuracy of calibrated values:	area BMD: ± 5 mg/cm²
	vol. BMD: ± 2 mg/cm³

Vertebra	specified vol. BMD Spongiousa (g CaHA/cm³)	DXA area BMD (AP) (g CaHA/cm²)	Cortical wall and spinal arch (g CaHA/cm³)	Spinal processes (g CaHA/cm³)
L1	0.05	0.5	0.4	0.4
L2	0.1	1.0	0.8	0.4
L3	0.2	1.5	0.8	0.4