How to measure a child’s bone age?

Today's parents are particularly concerned about their children's height. Everyone hopes that their children will grow taller, so they will take their children to test their bone age. There are many things to pay attention to when testing bone age, such as choosing the right time. Usually, children between 3 and 10 years old are suitable for bone age testing. In addition, when children enter puberty, especially in the early stages of sexual development, it is also suitable for bone age testing. So how is a child's bone age tested at present?

How to measure a child’s bone age?

Because bone age has a certain stability in predicting height or body shape, using bone age to determine human maturity is more accurate than actual age. Because the growth and development of human skeleton is basically similar, and the development process of each bone has different morphological characteristics, bone age assessment can more accurately reflect the growth, development and maturity of an individual. It can not only determine the age of a child, but also understand the child's growth and development potential, sexual maturity, and even predict height through bone age. It represents the child's true development level to a large extent. Therefore, measuring a child’s bone age can help us understand his or her growth status. Let’s understand how a child’s bone age is measured?

There are many methods for determining bone age in children, which can be divided into the following types:

1. The bone age counting method of ossification center is more traditional.

2. Bone age atlas method. The most commonly used method is the GP atlas method, which is very simple to use. The X-ray to be evaluated is compared with the atlas standard film in its entirety until the X-ray film with the most similar developmental level to the standard film is selected.

3. Bone age scoring method. The most commonly used method is the TW3 scoring method, which uses the principle of the TW bone age method. It is a bone age assessment method suitable for Chinese children developed by experts through research on the bone development of Chinese children.

Nowadays, you can go to community hospitals, major hospitals, and regular orthopedic hospitals to make an appointment with the orthopedics department. As long as there is an X-ray examination, you can test your bone age. Just as mentioned above, you only need to take an AP X-ray of the left wrist bones and then use the bone age measurement method to determine the bone age by checking the degree of development of the ossification center of the left metacarpal phalanges, and the lower ends of the radius and ulna of the wrist bones in the X-ray.