The bone mineral density (BMD) can be measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) accurately and precisely. BMD measurements of proximal tibia, where the structure is dominantly trabecular bone, were made on 45 normal women, aged 24–91 (52.0±14.2) years, and on 46 normal men, aged 20–71 (53.7±15.5) years. The precision of BMD measurements of proximal tibia, expressed as the coefficient of variation, was smaller than 4%.

Throughout this cross-sectional study, the following results were acquired. The mean BMD in male is higher than that in female. The BMD show a decrease with age at different rates in women and men. The BMD in both genders is found to increase with body weight. A positive correlation is found between the BMD and body height in women, not in men. In right proximal tibia, the BMD of medial regions are higher than that of lateral regions significantly. Our study also demonstrates that the excellent symmetry of the BMD of the bilateral proximal tibias in both genders, but not in men with age less than 50 years old.

Through the study of BMD in proximal tibias using the DEXA, it may reflect the bone reactions to many factors, such as age, sex, body weight & height, and weight bearing etc. Such a kind of study might be an useful adjuvant tool to assess the bone remodelling around the knee joint following the different surgical procedures such as total knee arthroplasty or high tibial osteotomy and might predict the future surgical outcomes.