DensityScan: turning routine x-rays into an opportunity to diagnose osteoporosis
At this year’s UKIO, Agfa Radiology Solutions announced DensityScan for the UK market. “We were delighted to showcase our DensityScan tool powered by the Bone Health software of IBEX Innovations Limited at UKIO. Offering a revolutionary new approach to x-ray imaging, they match our dedication to using smart technologies and innovations, to help hospitals and caregivers meet today’s challenges. DensityScan can turn an ordinary x-ray exam into an opportunity to identify patients at risk of osteoporosis who might benefit from a bone density scan. It thus helps to improve patients’ quality of life, ensure healthcare equity, and enable cost savings across the board,” says Martin Tew, sales director Europe North, Agfa Radiology Solutions.
Why DensityScan
Osteoporosis is a common pathology, and a so-called ‘silent disease’, that is frequently undiagnosed and thus, is left untreated. And it is a major cause of fragility fractures, which can impact elderly and other vulnerable patients. Half of all women over 50 are expected to suffer a fracture caused by osteoporosis. In fact, patients often experience several fractures before being diagnosed with osteoporosis, which can lead to unnecessary pain and suffering, and even untimely death. DensityScan, a ScanXR product embedded in the Musica Workstation, enables earlier identification of patients with a high risk of osteoporosis, during ordinary x-ray imaging. It helps bridge the diagnosis gap for osteoporosis: to improve patients’ quality of life, ensure healthcare equity, and enable significant healthcare cost savings.
Strengthening the backbone of healthcare
While bone density scans (DEXA or DXA) are key for diagnosing osteoporosis, these exams are often viewed by payors as elective procedures, and not every patient has easy access to them. With DensityScan, standard x-rays become an opportunistic screening tool to identify patients who may benefit from a bone density scan. DensityScan automatically adds a bone health report to the patient’s x-ray, without requiring any special training for radiographers. The report is archived in the PACS, where it is accessible for review by the radiologist and referring physician, or for follow-up by the specialist. They can then decide on further investigation or treatment.
Harnessing AI to enhance patient care pathways
DensityScan delivers results that can be readily interpreted by clinicians and that can be upgraded on most Agfa Radiology Solutions DR x-ray modalities.
DensityScan…
- identifies at-risk patients with standard, routine wrist and forearm x-rays, enabling faster diagnosis
- uncovers patients who don’t fit the ‘typical’ risk profile for osteoporosis, reducing missed abnormalities or diagnoses
- screens out patients who are unlikely to benefit from a bone density scan, reducing costs for patients, hospitals and health systems, and freeing up staff and valuable equipment resources for those who need them
Powered by IBEX BH
With DensityScan, all compatible x-ray images are processed via the Musica Workstation, using IBEX BH. It accurately measures aBMD and calculates T-scores, delivering up to 98% accuracy for osteoporosis prediction. IBEX BH has been proven in clinical studies to identify bone mineral density loss, enabling earlier identification and timely treatment of osteoporosis.
This news story has been sponsored by the companies concerned and does not represent the views or opinions of RAD Magazine.
