Background: Characterizing the distribution of bone density in the acetabulum is of importance in better understanding and guiding treatment for both osteoarthritis and trauma of the hip joint. This study aims to develop a highly automated method to quantify the pattern of subchondral bone density in the acetabulum using clinically identifiable regions.

Methods: Subchondral acetabular bone density distribution maps were created bilaterally from 30 non-pathologic pelvic CT scans. The density maps were aligned orthogonal to the acetabular rim plane and divided into twelve zones. Average bone density was calculated in each of these zones and compared to investigate differences between regions within each acetabulum and between right and left sides in a given patient.

Findings: In all patients, the zones corresponding to the dome and posterior wall of the acetabulum demonstrated significantly higher average bone