A New Device Predicts the Onset of Fractures

Doctors may soon be able to specifically predict if and where fractures are likely to occur in patients with osteoporosis or other types of bone disease thanks to a portable, noninvasive device developed at Rice. Called the OsteoSonic, the device allows physicians to measure the actual structural integrity of bone tissue—something current imaging technology like X-rays or MRIs cannot do.

TRice bioengineer Michael Liebschner and John Osborne, a former MBA student with Rice’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, teamed up two years ago to create the first prototype of the OsteoSonic. Battery operated, the device uses acoustic signals to measure the structural integrity of bone tissue. Rather than providing the physician with an image and a composite, or average measure of bone density in a localized area, the OsteoSonic gives a direct physical assessment of the specific tissue of interest.

This is important because osteoporosis affects the whole body, while fractures are local events. Therefore, bone density measures taken on the forearm or the heel bone cannot accurately indicate the likelihood of spinal fractures or bone deterioration at the hip. “Since bones break at their weakest point,” Liebschner explains, “averages aren’t as effective at predicting the likelihood of a fracture, and systemic measures provide no information about the probable location of a fracture.”

Besides its ability to pinpoint damaged bone mass, the OsteoSonic is easy and safe to use. Noninvasive and emitting no radiation, the applicator is “like putting an electric toothbrush against your skin,” Liebschner explains. “It doesn’t cause any damage or bruising and can be used very frequently.”

The device also can be used by emergency medical personnel, combat medical crews, and athletes injured in competition to determine if injuries involve bone or muscle damage and the location of any fractures. One particular application currently under study involves subjects in environments that simulate the experience of astronauts in space, who can develop disuse osteoporosis as a result of the lack of gravity.

Current clinical tools are designed around age-related osteoporosis and cannot differentiate between age-related osteoporosis and disuse osteoporosis, which occurs in individuals who are bed-ridden, paralyzed, or disabled. The OsteoSonic would provide quantitative information about the tissue quality independent of the cause of bone loss or disease. According to Liebschner, this type of information is critical in treatment planning and monitoring therapy. “The limitations of current diagnostic tools,” he says, “already result in severe undertreatment of patients as reported in the medical literature.”

Cancer patients who have lost bone mass from chemotherapy and radiation therapy could potentially benefit from Liebschner’s device as well. Given the OsteoSonic’s capacity to detect loss of bone mass early, prophylactic treatments such as vertebroplasty could be used to help prevent fractures from developing.

“By detecting loss of integrity in the bone tissue sooner rather than later,” Liebschner says, “physicians could start treatment sooner, thereby significantly improving the quality of life of these patients.”

Liebschner’s OsteoSonic recently was selected the winner from more than 1,300 design entries worldwide in the “Create the Future” contest sponsored by NASA Tech Briefs, the largest U.S.-circulation engineering magazine, and Emhart Teknologies in New Haven, Connecticut, a Black & Decker company.