Image: With a single, standard X-ray image of the hand, acquired on a mammography modality, it is possible to measure women’s bone health (Bone Mineral Density) (Photo courtesy of Sectra).

One thousand European women at very high risk of contracting osteoporosis have now been identified due to a new online screening service.

Women can now greatly reduce the risk of painful fractures because inexpensive and effective treatment of the disease is available. Increasing numbers of mammography clinics throughout Europe are using this service to screen for osteoporosis, an initiative that enhances women’s quality of life, reduces unnecessary suffering, and enables major savings in healthcare by reducing the number of fractures caused by osteoporosis.

“Regular mammography examinations are natural for most women. Now there is an effective method that enables the early identification of osteoporosis at the same time using bone-density measurements. This may mean that many women will avoid unnecessary suffering,” said Torbjörn Kronander, president of Sectra’s (Linköping, Sweden) medical operation.

Osteoporosis is an underdiagnosed disease, and there is great need for simple, cost-effective ways to identify patients in need of treatment. With Sectra’s OneScreen method, an X-ray of the hand provides the basis for an osteoporosis diagnosis. The image is taken at the same time as the breast images during the mammogram and using the same digital radiology equipment. The extra examination takes less than 30 seconds. An Internet connection and a digital radiology equipment are required for using this service.

Osteoporosis can be identified by measuring bone density. Sectra’s analysis of bone density is conducted using Sectra’s patented technology, digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR). With the help of this technology, women in the osteoporosis risk group can be identified and offered additional examination and treatment.

Sectra’s online service is suitable for use in identifying and prioritizing those women who should be examined using DXA measurement, a technique for analyzing bone mass that is more costly and considerably more time-consuming than DXR.

Sectra’s online service for the analysis of osteoporosis is currently used in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, and Sweden.

The disease is caused by an imbalance in the remodeling of the skeleton, which in turn can be caused, for example, by an unhealthy lifestyle, genetic factors, or drugs used to treat other diseases. The disorder affects one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50 and causes a very high economic burden for healthcare.

Guangzhou Jia Yu medical equipment Limited