Expires 9/30/2026: This advanced densitometry course focuses on how vertebral fracture imaging advances the diagnosis and treatment of patients at risk of osteoporotic fractures. It emphasizes the importance of vertebral fractures in the clinical management of osteoporosis, including recognition of lateral spine images of a normal spine, and other findings that may be confused with vertebral fractures. Fracture recognition, analysis, and best-practice patient positioning are detailed to ensure ideal image acquisition, interpretation, and reporting. It is recommended, but not required, that registrants attend the Quality Bone Densitometry Course (Clinician or Technologist) prior to attending the VFR course.

Expires 9/14/2027: Chronic Kidney Disease - Mineral and Bone Disorder (CKD-MBD) is a complex disorder of bone and mineral metabolism that affects all patients with CKD, in particular as kidney dysfunction worsens. CKD-MBD is associated with abnormalities in the Vitamin D-Parathyroid axis and Osteoporosis. This session will review the epidemiology of CKD-MBD and its complications and strategies to diagnose and manage the disorder, with a focus on patient-centered outcomes.

Expires 10/1/2027: This session will introduce DXA technologists to emerging innovations that are shaping the future of bone densitometry, with an emphasis on artificial intelligence–enabled tools and data integration. Participants will examine how AI-driven quality-control processes and automated region-of-interest detection can enhance measurement consistency, workflow efficiency, and scalability across clinical settings. The program will also examine how DXA data can be linked with large clinical and research datasets to support advanced risk prediction, longitudinal monitoring, and population-level analysis. In addition, participants will discuss key research opportunities and critical knowledge gaps that must be addressed to advance next-generation DXA technologies and inform the evolving role of the DXA technologist.

Expires 9/14/2027: This session will provide an overview of fractures from a radiology perspective. Real life cases will be shown. The imaging modalities covered include radiographs, MRI, and CT. The second lecture lecture reviews orthopedic surgical management of common fractures in patients with metabolic bone disease, using case examples of atypical femur fractures and osteoporotic pelvic ring injuries. The session emphasizes timely recognition, referral for operative evaluation, and surgical strategies that support mobilization and reduce risk of fracture progression or future injury.

Expires 9/14/2027: The session will focus on imaging findings of metabolic and genetic disorders of childhood that affect bone mineral density. The session will review the impact of growth on the manifestation of metabolic disorders, and how these disorders affect bone formation. The session will also discuss the diagnosis by imaging of complications that can arise from abnormal bone metabolism in children.

Expires 9/1/2027: This session will provide an in-depth, technologist-focused review of DXA acquisition and analysis variability across manufacturers, with emphasis on accurate region-of-interest (ROI) placement and interpretation for spine and hip examinations. Participants will examine common sources of technologist error, including suboptimal patient positioning, inappropriate post-acquisition analysis adjustments, and incorrect scan mode selection, and will learn strategies to prevent these pitfalls. The session will underscore the critical role of immediate scan review while the patient remains present, particularly for ensuring correct bone mapping and diagnostic integrity. In addition, participants will explore challenges related to serial comparability and review manufacturer-specific software glitches that may impact longitudinal bone density assessment.

Expires 9/1/2027: This educational session will provide a practical overview of current pharmacologic options for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. Participants will review commonly used bone medications and gain a clear understanding of how these therapies differ in their mechanisms of action on bone remodeling. The program will also address expected changes in bone mineral density associated with various treatments, including realistic timelines for achieving clinically meaningful improvement, to support informed decision-making and patient counseling.

Expires 8/14/2027: While much of our clinical focus is the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis, it is important to recognize the characteristic imaging features of other causes of decreased or increased bone mineral density, pathologic fracture, and other disorders that may mimic osteoporosis. This talk reviews the spectrum of imaging findings of common (and some uncommon) metabolic bone diseases, differential diagnosis, and pearls and pitfalls for accurate diagnosis. Examples of delayed or missed diagnosis will be highlighted.

Expires 8/14/2027: This talk explores how AI can transform opportunistic imaging, mining routinely acquired imaging studies, to detect low bone density and identify patients at risk for osteoporosis without additional costs or radiation. The end-to-end pipeline from algorithm development and external validation to workflow integration and reporting, highlighting performance, calibration, and generalizability across sites and scanners will be discussed. Real-world case studies will illustrate clinical impact on fracture risk stratification and care pathways and implementation logistics.

Expires 7/14/2027: This talk will examine the role of DXA in diagnosing sarcopenia, highlighting its accessibility and value for estimating lean mass in clinical and research settings. It will critically discuss key limitations, including variability across devices, cut-off definitions, and the inability of DXA to capture muscle mass, quality and function. Practical implications for clinicians will be addressed, with guidance on how to interpret DXA findings within a comprehensive sarcopenia assessment. The second talk reviews the clinical application of bone turnover markers in osteoporosis management, with emphasis on monitoring response to oral bisphosphonate therapy. The lecture explains practical approaches for interpreting CTX, P1NP, and other markers to assess adherence, identify responders, and guide treatment decisions during and after therapy.