HIGH-SPEED DPA SCANNER FOR DIAGNOSIS OF OSTEOPOROSIS

IMATRON, INC. INTENDS TO BECOME A MAJOR SUPPLIER OF HIGH-SPEED DUAL PHOTON ABSORPTIOMETRY (DPA) SCANNERS TO THE MEDICAL MARKETPLACE FOR AID IN THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF METABOLIC BONE DISEASES, SUCH AS OSTEOPOROSIS, WHICH ARE CHARACTERIZED BY CHANGES IN BONE MASS OR DENSITY. THE SPECIFIC AIM OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE AN INNOVATIVE DPA SCANNER TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL ACQUIRE SCANS20 TO 50 TIMES FASTER THAN CONVENTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME DOUBLING OR TRIPLING THE PRECISION AND ACCURACY OF QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF BONE MINERAL CONTENT IN THE SPINE AND AT OTHER SKELETAL SITES. THIS GOAL WILL BEACHIEVED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL X-RAY SOURCE AND MULTIELEMENT GERMANIUM DETECTOR CONCEPTS TO REPLACE THE ISOTOPESOURCE, SINGLE-DETECTOR ARRANGEMENT OF CONVENTIONAL SLOW-SPEED DPA SCANNERS. WHEN DEVELOPED TO COMMERCIALIZATION, THE IMATRON, INC. HIGH-SPEED DPA SCANNER WITH ITS HIGH PATIENT THROUGHPUT CAPABILITIES WILL OPEN UP AN ENTIRELY NEW REALM OF APPLICATIONS FOR DPA.