EAST WEST DXA CONSULTANCY

Services Offered

General Services
Standard Protocol Design

Services offered are in accordance with Manufacturer’s Recommendations, Australia & New Zealand-Bone & Mineral Society’s (ANZBMS) Accreditation Guidelines for Bone Densitometry as well as International Society of Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) guidelines

Our General Services include:

•Consultation in all aspects of Bone Densitometry

•Quality assurance and equipment performance

•Radiation protection and safety

•Physics of X-ray

•X-ray equipment

•Radioactive Sources

•Radiation Biology

•Radiation Protection

•Legal and Practical Consideration

•EPA licensing requirements

•Staff Training

•Bone as a composite material

•Role of the technologist

•Role of Anatomy in Bone Densitometry

•Patient Care in the Bone Densitometry Lab

•Patient Positioning and Scan Acquisition

•Scan Analysis

•Vertebral Fracture Assessment

•Understanding the Results

•Computers in Bone Densitometry

•Relevant statistical analysis and report generation

•Comprehensive data management

•Research studies protocols

•Patient questionnaire

•How to calculate Precision Error in your Centre

•Electrical and mechanical safety

Consultation in all aspects of Bone Densitometry

1.Facilities

Each densitometry unit has to provide sufficient space and facilities for the satisfactory provision of service.

The unit environment needs to be carefully planned; sufficient space around the x-ray unit such that densitometry staff and persons accompanying the patient are out of the radiation hazard zone of the machine.

2.Quality Assurance/Quality Control

•Daily QC of manufacturer’s phantom

•European Spine Phantom

•Long Term Drifts, measurement and adjustment

•Multirule Stewart Charts

•Cusum and Moving Average plots

3.Radiation Protection and Safety

The aim of radiation protection standards is to prevent deterministic effects and to limit the probability of stochastic effects to levels deemed to be acceptable for Unit personnel, hospital employees, patients and the community at large.

Also includes:

•Hazard analysis

•Regulations

•Patient advice

4.Staff Training

Staff must have an adequate training and experience to supervise and conduct the work of the unit.

A technologist in bone densitometry must be tertiary educated in the field of radiography, nuclear medicine, science or nursing, and must have additional post-graduate training in bone densitometry.

Units must have staff that is able to handle the particular problems of patients presenting for densitometry.

5.Computers in bone densitometry

•Computers in densitometry

•Control of computer components

•Hard drives

•Removable storage devices

•Software

•Input/output peripheral device care

•Computer maintenance

•Multitasking: connectivity solutions/networking

•DICOM

•PACS

•Hospital information systems data transfer

6.Relevant statistical analysis and report generation

•Normalised Gaussian (Z) Distribution and the Z Statistics

•Z Scores and T Scores

•Accuracy and Precision

•Standard deviation and Coefficient of Variation

7.Comprehensive data management

•Record keeping

•Useful statistics

8.Research studies protocols

•Protocol design

•Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

•Sample size estimation

•Sample-size estimation

•Regulatory consulting

•Form and document preparation

•Good clinical practise

9.Patient questionnaire

•Design

•Scope

10.Standard Protocol Design

Ensures consistency in quality.