A CUTTING edge scanning machine is already proving to be the difference between life and death for patients with brittle bones.

An agonising 15-month wait for a bone scan has been slashed to five weeks at Worcestershire Royal Hospital thanks to the latest piece of kit, which will benefit the elderly and patients with osteoporosis.

As we grow older our bone density declines, especially among women, and we become more prone to broken bones.

Leading clinician Bhanu Ruparelia, aged 57, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, is once again setting the pace by investing in the first ever bone densitometer in the country.

The scanning machine - the £21,000 Lunar iDXA - is paid for not out of taxpayers' money but from the fund-raising Save Our Skeleton (SOS) campaign he launched himself back in 1991.

The technology has come a long way since the SOS committee first used a giant plastic skeleton to launch the campaign in Worcester 17 years ago.

The machine uses the latest digital technology to produce high-quality, high-resolution images.

A typical scan takes just 30 seconds and the whole body can be scanned in just four minutes.

The images produced are twice as accurate as those made by other machines, says Lunar, the company behind the machines.

Mr Ruparelia, lead clinician for the menopause and osteoporosis at the Worcestershire Royal, said: "Everything is faster and better.

"If you had waited 15 months you would be frustrated and there is the risk that you could have broken another bone by then. If people have broken their wrist they can break their hip within 10 years' time and 10 per cent of people who break their hip die within the first year. We want to help the most vulnerable people before they do themselves damage."

The machine is already in high demand - Worcestershire Royal has been getting referrals from Hereford, Birmingham, Leominster and Ludlow.

Although the machine means they can scan patients more quickly, the demand has meant the number of patients has also increased.

The old machine could complete 15 scans a day on just three days a week but the new machine can complete 20 scans five days a week, doubling the number of scans.

Work is also under way to make scans available online to GPs to save even more time so they can get access to the information straight away.

The data will be encrypted so only the patient and his or her doctor can access it.

He said: "This is our third machine since 1991 and is by far the best of the lot.

"This is the best you can get and we have already had it working. The quality of the images is substantially better.

"It would be nice if the NHS could provide everything we need but the NHS has so many commitments it will never be able to provide everything we need."

Mr Ruparelia said the system would lead to more integrated health care, linking the work of orthopaedic surgeons, geriatric surgeons and bowel doctors and reducing the number of patients in A&E and the falls clinic being admitted with broken bones such as fractured neck of femur.

FACT FILE: OSTEOPOROSIS

BARE FACTS ABOUT BONES

The adult skeleton contains 206 bones. The skeleton of an infant contains 350 (bones fuse as we grow).

More than half of an adult's 206 bones are found in their hands and feet.

Bones themselves are divided up into four classes - long bones (which make up the limbs); short bones (which are grouped together to strengthen our skeleton); flat bones (which protect our body and provide a place for muscles to attach), and irregular bones (oddly shaped bones that don't fit into any of the other categories).

Osteoporosis is a disease of bone leading to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density (BMD) is reduced.

Osteoporosis is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in women as a bone mineral density 2.5 standard deviations below peak bone mass, measured against that of a 20-year-old.

Osteoporosis is most common in women after the menopause when it is called postmenopausal osteoporosis, but may develop in men and premenopausal women in the presence of particular hormonal disorders and other chronic diseases or as a result of smoking and medications.

PREVENTION OF OSTEOPOROSIS

Prevention of Osteoporosis: The condition can be prevented with lifestyle advice and medication, and preventing falls in people with known or suspected osteoporosis is an established way to prevent fractures.