Technologies

Osteoporosis is a disease that affects 10 million people in the U.S., with another 35 million people at risk for osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, which leads to increased susceptibility to fracture due to bone fragility. 1.5 million fractures annually are a result of osteoporosis. In 2002, hospital and nursing home care for osteoporotic hip fractures cost $18 billion.Although there is no cure for osteoporosis, prevention and early detection can dramatically decrease the risk of bone fracture. Currently, the risk of a bone fracture is determined by image analysis of bone density measurements from various parts of the body (i.e. bone densitometry or CAT scan). Since these measurements are all bone based, the only risk factor assessed is skeletal weakness. A UCSF investigator has developed an improved method to identify people at elevated risk of osteoporotic fracture. By enhancing the current bone density-based measurements, this method provides a more accurate estimate of fracture risk.