PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF AN X-RAY IMAGING SYSTEM FOR THE BONE STRUCTURAL INDEX EVALUATION

Osteoporosis (OP) is a very common disease in which the bones become weak and are more likely to break. Despite the huge costs in the EU and worldwide, the majority of individuals who have sustained an osteoporosis-related fracture or who are at high risk of fracture are left untreated. In effect, OP is a silent disease, with bones deteriorating without warning until fracture, and the current screening modalities are not significantly better than age alone, also because they consider only the bone quantity (bone mineral density, BMD) and the clinical risk factors, but disregard the bone quality, that is the structural soundness of the trabecular arrangement, which can be evaluated by simulations on virtual models. While 3D models can only be used in research because of high costs, an alternative approach based on the acquisition of planar hand radiograms for bone behaviour simulations, and the use of a Structural Index, SI, for bone quality ranking, have been developed at the University of Trieste. In this work, we discuss the preliminary design of a portable low dose X-ray hand scanner to be used as a low cost, user-friendly device (Fig.1) for imaging the trabecular pattern in the proximal phalanges of the non-dominant hand and for providing a radiogram suitable for the SI evaluation

PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF AN X-RAY IMAGING SYSTEM FOR THE BONE STRUCTURAL INDEX EVALUATION

Osteoporosis (OP) is a very common disease in which the bones become weak and are more likely to break. Despite the huge costs in the EU and worldwide, the majority of individuals who have sustained an osteoporosis-related fracture or who are at high risk of fracture are left untreated. In effect, OP is a silent disease, with bones deteriorating without warning until fracture, and the current screening modalities are not significantly better than age alone, also because they consider only the bone quantity (bone mineral density, BMD) and the clinical risk factors, but disregard the bone quality, that is the structural soundness of the trabecular arrangement, which can be evaluated by simulations on virtual models. While 3D models can only be used in research because of high costs, an alternative approach based on the acquisition of planar hand radiograms for bone behaviour simulations, and the use of a Structural Index, SI, for bone quality ranking, have been developed at the University of Trieste. In this work, we discuss the preliminary design of a portable low dose X-ray hand scanner to be used as a low cost, user-friendly device (Fig.1) for imaging the trabecular pattern in the proximal phalanges of the non-dominant hand and for providing a radiogram suitable for the SI evaluation

Preliminary Design of an x-ray Imaging System for the Bone Structure Index Evaluation

Osteoporosis is a very common disease in which the bones become weak and easily break. Besides the serious impact on a person\u2019s health and quality of life, osteoporosis results in important costs for society. The current diagnosis considers the bone quantity, as evaluated by bone mineral density assessments, and the clinical risk factors, but cannot take into account the bone quality, defined as the structural soundness of the trabecular arrangement. An approach based on the numerical modeling of the behavior of bone architectures, acquired by planar radiograms in the proximal phalanges of the non-dominant hand, has been developed at the University of Trieste. The Bone Structure Index, BSI, summarizes the simulations results for the purpose of bone quality ranking in the clinical evaluation. In this work, we discuss the preliminary design of a portable low dose x-ray scanner intended to be used as a low cost, user-friendly device for imaging the trabecular pattern and for providing a radiogram suitable for BSI evaluation. As an example, two cases in which the chosen device is used to evaluate the BSI are also reported

Morphological and structural evaluation of trabecular bone in early and late stage of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease and occurs mostly in knee and hip. It is expected that in future over one-fifth of the population over the age of 60 in Europe and in the United States will have signs and symptoms associated with OA, and that 30% of OA patients will experience disability and immobilization, hence the motivation for this research aimed at achieving new insights into this disease. This paper presents the first results obtained by a combination of two approaches: morphological and structural 3D analyses, obtained from high-resolution micro-CT reconstructions of trabecular bone in early and late stage hip OA

Mechanical and histomorphometrical evaluation of false and floating ribs of young adults with idiopathic scoliosis

The aim of this paper was to assess the histomorphometrical and mechanical properties of ribs in patients with idiopathic scoliosis who underwent corrective surgery of scoliosis combined with thoracoplasty. Methods: The analyzed material encompasses 20 females between the ages of 12 and 18, whose pre-operative Cobb angle was 56.85 degrees, on average. The participants were divided into two age groups, up to the age of 15 and above 15 years old, taking into account the anatomical location of the assessed rib fragments with a division into floating and false ribs. The analysis of mechanical parameters was carried out by means of the quasi-static 3-point bending test, and the histomorphometric evaluation of the examined rib fragments was carried out using high-resolution computed tomography. Results: The existence of explicit relationships between selected radiological parameters describing scoliosis and mechanical and histomorphometric parameters of the ribs has not been confirmed. Statistically significant correlations between age and rib stiffness as well as between Young’s modulus and stiffness depending on the anatomical location of the examined rib fragment were confirmed. Conclusions: Mechanical and histomorphometric properties of bone tissue in patients with scoliosis are not explicitly associated with the radiological parameters characterizing scoliosis