Standards and Measurements for Assessing Bone Health

For program details and to view presentations from the workshop click here

1. Identify current and future standards and measurement infrastructure needs associated  with technologies for assessing bone health, fracture risk and efficacy of therapies.
2. Involve all who assess bone health to collaboratively address needs and seek solutions. 
3. Identify systemic gaps and weaknesses in standards and supporting data for  technologies used to assess bone health, such as measuring bone mineral density.
4. Establish, if possible, agreement on priorities for addressing needs, gaps, and weaknesses in technologies for determining bone mineral density.
5. Describe the challenges and demands associated with improving DXA measurements and images.  These include:
   1. Cross calibration phantoms for DXA
   2. Standardized data sets
   3. Standardizing operational and test methodologies
   4. Comparisons of DXA to alternative technologies such as ultrasound and quantitative computed tomography for assessment of bone health
   5. Electronic imaging, edge detection, and color and grayscale management
   6. Validating models for predicting fracture risk.
6. Delineate, if possible, the consequences of not meeting the challenges and demands.

Co-Chairmen

• John Shepherd, PhD, University of California-San Francisco and ISCD Standards Committee Chairman
• Herbert Bennett, PhD, NIST (301) 975-2079, herbert.bennett@nist.gov

Members

• Deborah Augustus, CPM, ISCD Corporate Partnerships and Annual Meeting Manager
• G. Avery, RT (R)(N), CDT, Clarian Health and ISCD Board of Directors
• Andrew Dienstfrey, PhD, NIST (303)-497-7485 andrew.dienstfrey@nist.gov
• Lawrence Hudson, PhD, NIST (301)-975-2537 lawrence.hudson@nist.gov
• Paul Miller, MD, Colorado Center for Bone Research Director and ISCD Fracture Risk Taskforce Chairman
• Tammy Oreskovic, MS, NIST (303)-497-4571 tammy.oreskovic@nist.gov 
• Steven Petak, MD, JD, Texas Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Endocrinology Director and ISCD President
• Martin Rotblatt, CAE, ISCD Associate Director
• S. Bobo Tanner, MD, Vanderbilt University and ISCD Education Committee Chairman

The International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD), a non-profit organization, is collaborating with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop the program for this Workshop.  The ISCD is the world leader in bone densitometry measurements, standards, education, and certification. The ISCD provides comprehensive education courses in bone densitometry and offers certification exams for clinicians and technologists.  It provides resources for multiple scientific disciplines with an interest in bone mass measurement, reference standards, and recommended practices.  Its membership consists of over 6,000 clinicians, technologists, corporate partners, and industry members from more than forty countries.   With the evolution of bone densitometry, differences in technologies, acquisition techniques, reference databases, reporting methods, and terminology have developed. To address these issues the ISCD periodically holds Position Development Conferences (PDCs).  The recommendations from its PDCs are widely published and periodically updated.

The purpose of the Workshop is to identify and advise NIST on pressing measurement infrastructure needs and gaps in the area of assessing bone health.   We are planning 1) to publish the proceedings of this Workshop and 2) to include what should be done by NIST and by others to meet those needs.   Please keep in mind that NIST works with industry, academia, and other government agencies to provide appropriate measurements and standards and that NIST is not a regulatory agency.

The theme of this Workshop is measurements and standards for monitoring patients over time as they reside in different locations and have bone scans with different medical imaging equipment and modalities.  This Workshop will consist of two three-hour sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  The morning session will have six plenary session speakers.  Each speaker will be asked to conclude their presentations by addressing one question from among:

1. What bone health parameters need to be measured, but are difficult or too expensive to do so?
   
2. What measurements, reference standards, and common practices are needed to correlate better bone measurements and fracture risk?
   
3. What measurement methods and data sets, near-term and long-term, are needed for health care delivery and for research? and
   
4. What measurements and specifications are used when purchasing equipment for assessing bone health?  

The afternoon session will consist of a panel of experts who should generate interactive discussions with the audience based on questions submitted by attendees during the morning session.  The purpose of the afternoon session is to:

1. Identify the most critical challenges related to standards and measurements for assessing bone health;
   
2. Determine whether agreement exists on the priorities for addressing the challenges; 
   
3. Determine whether meeting those critical challenges requires technical innovation or better infrastructure for deploying existing technologies;
   
4. Identify who should provide the solutions; and
   
5. Suggest how to bring them together to provide solutions.

We will use a Measurement-Needs Template to guide discussions on each critical technical issue. To assist us in preparing for the afternoon session, we recommend that anyone attending the ISCD-NIST Workshop on 4 February complete by 15 January this template for a measurement need of concern to them and send it by email to herbert.bennett@nist.gov.

Industry, universities, government agencies and many medical specialties (e.g., endocrinologists, rheumatologists, allergists, and gynecologists who frequently prescribe corticosteroids, and orthopedic surgeons), and members of other professional societies are expected to participate in this Workshop.

For program details click here