Descripción del proyecto
Un diagnóstico más rápido y preciso de la osteoporosis
La osteoporosis constituye un problema de salud importante ya que es la enfermedad ósea más común en los seres humanos, aunque se puede prevenir y tratar. Con todo, si no se trata, puede provocar fracturas óseas graves, especialmente en la cadera y la columna vertebral, que causan un dolor fuerte y discapacidades importantes. El diagnóstico precoz es vital, pero se ve obstaculizado por métodos de detección ineficaces. En este contexto, el proyecto BoneScreen, financiado con fondos europeos, pondrá en marcha un método totalmente automatizado para la evaluación de datos existentes de tomografía computarizada de pacientes. Este método permitirá el cálculo de la densidad mineral ósea volumétrica para predecir el riesgo de fractura y favorecerá una aplicación precisa, no invasiva, totalmente calibrada y cómoda para un diagnóstico rápido y preciso de la osteoporosis.
Objetivo
Worldwide, an osteoporotic fracture occurs every three seconds; most of them in Europe, where the economic burden has been estimated at €37 billion per year and lost years of life surpass most major cancers. This is hard to comprehend, given that osteoporosis is a preventable, treatable disease, if diagnosed at an early stage. As current state-of-the-art screening methods are neither sufficiently available nor accurate, there is an urgent need for readily available and accurate screening systems.
BoneScreen will fill this gap and provide a low-cost and accurate screening method, available for millions of patients. BoneScreen introduces a fully automated solution to evaluate existing computed tomography data of patients. BoneScreen will calculate volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), the most reliable and accurate single predictor of a patient’s fracture risk. In contrast to existing methods, BoneScreen is fully automated; it is purely non-invasive and excludes any additional radiation dose or patient discomfort; it is fully calibrated, yielding high precision and allowing for the application of established diagnostic categories; it works for all vertebral levels, allowing for inclusion of scans with variable coverage. Additionally, the functionality of BoneScreen is easily extendable, e.g. for detecting fractures or metastasis.
The overall goal of this proposal is to initiate the start-up process for a company commercializing the research developments to date. Specific objectives are to (1) increase the technology readiness level of our current research software to reliably work in different hospital environments; in particular we will include an automated calibration, allowing for accurate processing in >98% of cases; (2) increase the awareness of the possibilities provided by such a screening tool, both in the academic and non-academic radiology community; and (3) develop a strategy for marketing and securing IPR.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum PilotInstitución de acogida
81675 Muenchen
Alemania