Osteoporosis is often associated with profound skeletal changes that place affected women at risk for fractures and other debilitating conditions. It is clear that postural assessment and training are valuable aspects of the detection and minimization of osteoporosis in susceptible adults. Biotonix is currently developing and refining a specialized tool named the OsteoPrint in collaboration with major University and clinical facilities. The product is designed to help identify the potential for Osteoporosis and to eventually serve as an early warning or screening tool.

Posture is examined by means of a lateral view photo. Spinal contour is extracted from the digital image, sent via the web to a central server and proprietary software is used to detect postural deviations of various body segments and compare them to established norms.

An Osteoporosis Postural Index is formed summarizing the postural orientations of different body segments. This provides the input stage to an expert system designed to weight the body segment and deviation magnitudes from normal and to form two related indices: risk of osteoporosis and risk of bone fracture related to osteoporosis. Individualized corrective exercises that target the postural variables and impact bone health as well as balance and stability are provided.

The first OsteoPrint serves as a benchmark. Subsequent annual OsteoPrint evaluations will track any changes in your posture, comparing the spinal contour from evaluation to evaluation. In this way, the Osteoporosis Postural Index will help identify and flag postural deviations associated with the predisposition to Osteoporosis. This is the point where discussions about courses of action should take place with a health practitioner, and the effects of possible therapeutic intervention can be monitored.