Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for determining bone mineral density

US6246745A · kind A · utility

76Cited by
25References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 29, 1999
Grant dateJun 12, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 29, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01N23/04
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A method and apparatus for measuring bone density in a body part. The method and apparatus receive and process a digital image that includes at least one digit, a calibration wedge, and a target bone to compute the density of the target bone. Based on the digital image, a contour for the digit and the target bone are automatically extracted and displayed for the user. A user is then provided an opportunity to input information via an easy-to-use graphical user interface. The contour of the target bone is then automatically re-computed based on the user input. Then, the bone mineral density of the target bone is computed based on the re-computed contour of the target bone.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.