Spinal X-ray image analysis to aid early osteoporosis detection

With £660,000 from the Department of Health and the Wellcome Trust through the Health Innovation Challenge Fund, Manchester University will work with Optasia Medical and Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to develop a system that automatically analyses the subtle changes that indicate the presence of the disease.

According to Tim Cootes, a professor of imaging from the Institute of Population Health based Manchester University, the research will focus on vertebra in the spine and how they appear in x-rays, particularly DXA dual energy, low dose X-rays.

Vertebral fractures provide an early indication of osteoporosis, a disease that weakens bones, leaving them prone to fracture. Osteoporotic vertebral fractures also double the risk of future hip fracture.

However, the asymptomatic nature of the fractures means they can go unnoticed by the patient.

‘Fifty per cent of these injuries don’t cause any pain at all, the patient just gets a bit shorter and doesn’t notice,’ Cootes said.