Apparatus for measuring the bone mineral content of an extremity
US5712892A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 28, 1995 |
| Grant date | Jan 27, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 28, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B6/583
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Apparatus for measuring the bone density of the extremities of a human body. The apparatus includes an x-ray source for projecting a continuous spectrum x-ray beam through a body extremity region and a calibration wedge positioned adjacent to the body extremity region to produce x-ray images of the body extremity region and the calibration wedge; an x-ray image converter for converting the x-ray images into digital image signals representative of the x-ray images of the body extremity region and of the calibration wedge; and a digital image processor for processing by means of a segmentation technique the digital image signals representative of the x-ray images of the body extremity region and the calibration wedge to automatically determine the bone density of at least a portion of the body extremity region to establish whether or not there has been a loss of bone mass.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.