Whole-body phantoms with anthropomorphic-shaped skeletons for evaluation of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measurements

We have developed a set of four whole-body phantoms with anthropometric-shaped skeletons constructed of CaHPO4-doped expoxy resin, to simulate average body sizes of children at ages 4, 10, 15 and 18. Each phantom was measured on a Hologic QDR-2000 instrument with and without a set of polyethylene overlays to simulate excess body fat, and with and without a 0.6% NaCl/water mixture to simulate differences in lean tissue composition. Precision of total body BMC, based on 4 scans over 2 wk, were 0.5%–1.8%, and were correlated (r2 = 0.999, p < 0.001) with the chemical Ca content of the simulated skeleton. The addition of overlays to the phantoms to simulate increased body size and/or body fat resulted in small but significant increases in the measured values for BMC and bone area, but not that of BMD.