€1.6million for South Tees osteoporosis trial

Through a partnership with IBEX Innovations Limited (IBEX), clinicians at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have been given €1.6million to trial the effectiveness of osteoporosis equipment.

Osteoporosis affects over three million people in the UK alone, with over 500,000 patients receiving hospital treatment for fragility fractures every year as a result of this disease. This is reported to cost £2.3 billion, with the potential to increase to more than £6 billion by 2036.

At present, X-rays are used to initially diagnose a fracture but provide no information about a patient’s bone density. Under the new trial, the IBEX X-ray detector technology, which upgrades standard hospital X-ray equipment, measures bone mineral density at the same time, providing a quicker, more accurate diagnosis of osteoporosis of patients presenting with a fracture.

If the trial proves successful, the resulting data will be used to certify the IBEX technology as a medical device, allowing widespread adoption in healthcare markets.

Professor Rangan, the trial’s chief investigator, said: “Essentially, if we can demonstrate this new technology is safe, reliable and effective, the benefit to patients and the NHS could be huge both in terms of patient outcomes and cost effectiveness. The study will involve our orthopaedic team and mainly concentrate on patients with hip and wrist fractures where we will test this new technology alongside the current way we diagnose fractures and plan treatment.”

Professor Andrew Owens, director of Education, Research and Innovation at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, added: “Our ambition is to grow our reputation as a leading regional and national provider of safe, innovative, high quality care which is underpinned by research-led clinical evidence, so we’re delighted to be working with the team at IBEX and our other respective partners on this exciting healthcare project which will potentially help to deliver solutions at the front-line.”

It is expected the study, which also involves Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University, will begin later this year.