Isle of Wight trust chooses Horizon bone density scanner for CDC’s DXA service

Isle of Wight NHS Trust has installed a Hologic Horizon bone density scanner and reports that it is pleased with the system and the service provided by supplier Vertec Scientific. “Our DXA service is based in the new community diagnostic centre adjacent to St Mary’s Hospital here on the Isle of Wight,” a spokesperson for the trust said. “We scan adults for a wide variety of conditions and also work very closely with our well established osteoporosis team based in rheumatology.”

The Horizon offers vertebral deformity assessment using less radiation than plain film x-ray. Body composition analysis gives whole body bone mineral density and lean and fat tissue mass, which can be useful in estimating hypertension and diabetes, a service the trust predicts offering in future. The system has a software feature that will be used to calculate trabecular bone score (TBS) without further imaging. TBS uses the lumbar spine to predict fracture risk independently of bone mineral density.

“As well as these great new features we find the Horizon has faster scanning times, giving us a greater throughput of patients. It gives great definition of images of the hip, lumbar spine and whole body and significantly reduces the radiation dose in obtaining these measurements,” the spokesperson added.

Installation and cross calibration between the new and old scanners was carried out by Vertec engineers and migration of prior patient scans enabled previous and new scans to be compared. With the aftercare service, a clinical trainer can be booked to go through the new features and analysis. “All our neighbouring south coast DXA services use Hologic. This enabled a far smoother training programme for us and helped unify us as a user group where we support each other with advice.”

Picture: DXA lead and RPS Nicole O’Connor with Vertec Scientific applications specialist Vanessa Chandler.

Read this report on page 8 of the June 2025 issue of RAD Magazine.