Bestimmung des Knochenalters (nach Greulich und Pyle)

Bone age is a measure of skeletal development. Normally, bone age and physiological age coincide.

In the case of developmental disturbances (for example pubertas praecox, pubertas tarda, somatomegaly, dwarfism, etc.) bone age can deviate from physiological age, i.e. maturation may be either accelerated or retarded. An image of the left hand is made and then compared with reference images from an atlas. The hand skeleton usually develops according to a definite pattern, maturation occurring someone faster in girls than in boys.