Expires 10/1/2027: 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 10/14/2027: Vertebral augmentation is an effective minimally invasive treatment for patients suffering from painful osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. This presentation will review evidence-based indications for vertebral augmentation, with emphasis on clinical and imaging factors that guide optimal patient selection. We will examine short- and long-term outcomes data, including expected pain relief, functional improvement, and possible procedural risks. Practical, case-based insights will be shared to aid in every day clinical decision-making. GLP-1 receptor agonists are now widely used for the management of diabetes and overweight/obesity. Concerns have been raised about their potential impact on skeletal muscle and bone density. This talk will look at the evidence to date regarding how this class of medication impacts bone and muscle health and will highlight future areas of investigation.

Expires 10/14/2027: Estimating fracture risk should be an integral part of bone health assessment. Multiple tools and strategies are available - some well validated, others more controversial but nonetheless potentially useful. We'll try to explore as many avenues as possible to get the fullest understanding of fracture risk for treatment recommendation. The second presentation will first review the principle behind TBS, and why it correlates with other measures of trabecular bone microarchitecture and bone strength. We will review the effects of degenerative changes, fracture and other artifacts on TBS values. We will then review how the addition of TBS can alter fracture risk assessment and highlight clinical scenarios where the addition of TBS may alter fracture risk management decisions.

Expires 11/1/2027: This session will examine barriers to accessing bone density testing from a DXA technologist's perspective, with particular attention to patient populations who may be at increased risk for poor bone health but are not routinely referred for testing under current diagnostic ordering criteria or access to general healthcare. Participants will explore population-level factors that limit access to DXA services, including geographic, logistical, and health system constraints, as well as the impact of centralized scanning models and delayed scheduling on timely diagnosis and management. The session will also provide an overview of available peripheral and alternative bone assessment technologies—such as peripheral DXA (pDXA), quantitative ultrasound (QUS), and CT-derived bone mineral density—highlighting their potential role, strengths, and limitations in supporting bone health assessment and clinical decision-making when standard DXA access is limited.

Expires 10/14/2027: Interactive session on the topic of optimizing the sequence of osteoporosis therapies for maximum benefit.

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.