Osteoporosis Study

A large scale study led by renowned osteoporosis researcher Dr. Jianhua Wang and presented at the recent 6^th International Conference on Bone and Mineral Research in Hohhot, China affirms the precision and accuracy of CompuMed‘s OsteoGram system for low cost osteoporosis screening.

Dr. Wang’s presentation titled “Study on Measurement of Phalangeal Bone Density by Radiographic Absorptiometry” presented extremely precise results when performing short-term repeated tests with CompuMed’s OsteoGram system. In addition, the study outcome was highly correlated to China’s popular osteoporosis normal database, confirming the high accuracy of OsteoGram. Radiographic absorptiometry (RA) is a technique for bone mass measurement from radiographs of peripheral sites, most commonly the hand or heel.

Osteoporosis is a disease of bone that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced, bone microarchitecture is disrupted, and the amount and variety of non-collagenous proteins in bone is altered. Osteoporosis is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in women as a bone mineral density 2.5 standard deviations below peak bone mass (20-year-old healthy female average) as measured by DXA; the term “established osteoporosis” includes the presence of a fragility fracture. Osteoporosis is most common in women after menopause, when it is called postmenopausal osteoporosis, but may also develop in men, and may occur in anyone in the presence of particular hormonal disorders and other chronic diseases or as a result of medications, specifically glucocorticoids, when the disease is called steroid- or glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (SIOP or GIOP). Given its influence on the risk of fragility fracture, osteoporosis may significantly affect life expectancy and quality of life.

“This was one of the largest and most thorough studies ever performed to study the value of RA in measuring bone mineral density,” said CompuMed CEO Maurizio Vecchione. “The results further affirm that the OsteoGram is an effective and efficient alternative to costly DXA systems.”