Crescent Diagnostics have worked with BFG Healthcare to develop a consumer osteoporosis testing kit that will allow consumers to have access to Crescent’s Bone Quality Test (BQT).
A typical manifestation of osteoporosis is a hip fracture and require hospitalisation. It mainly affects postmenopausal women but can also affect men, and osteoporosis related hip fractures are a huge cost for healthcare providers. There is currently no quick way to check for osteoporosis but Crescent’s pioneering Osentia screening test is about to change that.
The consumer buys the osteoporosis testing kit at the local pharmacy and mails a nail clipping to the lab using the included vial and prepaid envelope. The lab inserts the clipping into a Raman spectrometer, where the sample is excited and produces a spectrum. Proprietary algorithms tag the sample according to the osteoporosis risk. A lab report is then sent back to the patient using a simple green-amber-red type of system – green means you’re fine; amber means you are at risk of osteoporosis and might consider making some lifestyle changes; red indicates that you could have a problem and should see your general practitioner.
