An experimental probe has been developed by the American firm “Scientific active life” to give doctors an instant indication of bone strength.
Using this new tool only takes seconds and is hardly more painful and traumatic than a pin prick.
Indeed, it suffices to prick the probe in the tibia. If it naturally sinks more than 0.04 millimeters, it determines that the bones are weak and not very dense. The risk of fractures is therefore higher.
On the other hand, if the bones are dense and healthy, the probe cannot penetrate them beyond 0.02 millimeters (half the width of a human hair).
Researchers at the University of Southampton (UK) took bits of bone left over from hip replacement surgery and performed lab tests using the new technique to analyze whether it accurately describes strength bones.
They claim that “if used with existing testing methods, it could indeed help prevent fractures.”
Claire Bowring, director of the “National Osteoporosis Societ” (an English association for the prevention of osteoporosis) said that “this new study is indeed very interesting. Current techniques for analyzing bone density do not make perfect measurements of bone strength and do not show bone quality ”.
“This new technique that looks at measures of bone fragility is necessary in developing our understanding of osteoporosis and bone health, and may help us reduce the number of fractures.”
Osteoporosis is characterized by a decrease in bone mass and abnormalities in the architecture of the bone, which becomes porous. As a result, the bones break easily, especially at the vertebral level, causing very painful compression. Fractures of the wrist and neck of the femur are also characteristic of this fragility. Almost 40% of women over 50 are at risk of developing an osteoporotic fracture.
Scientists are now planning to test this probe in a clinical trial in order to commercialize it.
