Appropriateness of internal digital phantoms for monitoring the stability of the UBIS 5000 quantitative ultrasound device in clinical trials.

In bone status assessment, proper quality assurance/quality control is crucial since changes due to disease or therapeutic treatment are very small, in the order of 2-5%. Unlike for dual X-ray absorptiometry, quality control procedures have not been extensively developed and validated for quantitative ultrasound technology, limiting its use in longitudinal monitoring. While the challenge of developing an ideal anthropometric phantom is still open, some manufacturers use the concept of the internal digital phantom mimicking human characteristics to check the stability of their device.