Show
ImageJ application.
Go
to File, Open Samples and open the image Bone1.
You may want to use the magnifier 
to enlarge the image. (Then draw the image out by holding onto the bottom
right corner.) The first four Lumbar vertebra (L1 through L4) are outlined
in this view of the two patients. To give you a point of reference, immediately
above L1 you can make out the last thoracic vertebra with the ribs coming
off the vertebra.
Go
to File, Open Samples and open the image DS1.
Follow the instructions on Density Slicing. When you have the lumbar bones
selected in red the image should look
like the left hand example shown below.
Go to the Rectangle
Tool and start your rectangle just to the left of the red area in
L1 on the top line of Patient 1. Move your tool to the right until you have
a rectangle that will be large enough to eventually cover L4 (Try
to keep between the top and bottom horizontal lines). With the rectangle
in place do Analyze, Measure The number that "pops up"
in the ImageJ results section is the area in red that is inside the rectangle.
Take you Rectangle
Tool and grab somewhere inside the yellow rectangle and move it
down to L2 and do Analyze, Measure again. Continue this procedure
through L3 and Ld. Then using your Rectangle
Tool move it to rectangle L1 on Patient 2 and repeat the procedure.
In Table 1
the area will be the same if you are moving the rectangle from one Thoracic
Vertebra to another. For density put down the Mean value that you get for
each vertebra.
Reference
The follow
are WEB reference sites for information on
Osteoporosis
The International
Osteoporosis Foundation Up to date information on osteoporosis including
research and songs.
National
Osteoporosis Foundation Osteoporosis is a disease in which bones become
fragile and more likely to break. If not prevented or if left untreated,
osteoporosis can progress painlessly until a bone breaks. These broken bones,
also known as fractures, occur typically in the hip, spine, and wrist.
Osteoporosis
Center - A patients source for information on Osteoporosis.
Results
(You can also Go to File,
Open Samples and Open the image Results which
is a copy of this Results section. While this page cannot be printed out
- at this time - it can be saved as a JPG file to your desktop. You can
then open it with any graphics program,type out the answers and then print
it out from your program.
You can also enter the results
on this image using the Text 
Tool. To do this first go to Edit, Options, Fonts and select something
like Geneva - 12 pt - Bold. Then click on the Results Image
in the answer space and draw out the yellow rectangle that appears and start
typing. When you are finished go to Edit and Select
Draw. What you have typed should now be present.)
Table
1:
| |
Patient
1 |
|
Patient
2 |
|
| |
Area
|
Density
|
Area
|
Density
|
| L1 |
|
|
|
|
| L2 |
|
|
|
|
| L3 |
|
|
|
|
| L4 |
|
|
|
|
Student
results can also be transferred to a Graphing Program
Compare the
two X-rays.
Based on your
bone density results which person do you think is suffering from osteoporosis?
Density of skeletal bone is directly related to the strength and overall health of this supporting tissue in the body. Loss of density due to the reabsorption and excretion of calcium phosphate by the blood stream leads to a condition termed osteoporosis. This causes the bone to be more susceptible to fractures and less able to heal in cases of bone injury. Osteoporosis is a condition that can occur to astronauts in weightless conditions and is generally compensated for by significantly increasing the calcium content in their diets. You will be looking at X-rays from the Lumbar region of two patients.
