Quality assurance of imaging techniques used in the clinical management of osteoporosis

Recent advances in the densitometric and imaging techniques involved in the management of osteoporosis are associated with increasing accuracy and precision as well as with higher exposure to ionising radiation. Therefore, special attention to quality assurance (QA) procedures is needed in this field. The development of effective and efficient QA programmes is mandatory to guarantee optimal image quality while reducing radiation exposure levels to the ALARA principle (as low as reasonably achievable). In this review article, the basic QA procedures are discussed for the techniques applied to everyday clinical practice.