10103954Extending Machine Learning Driven Diagnosis of Low Bone Density from X-RaysClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UK1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over 50 will experience an osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime. Every year in the UK, over 500,000 people receive hospital treatment for fragility fractures because of osteoporosis, costing the NHS over £4.7bn. The cost extends well beyond immediate medical care. After a hip fracture, 40% of patients cannot walk independently, 10-20% need permanent residential care, and nearly a third of people die within the first year. If diagnosed early, osteoporosis can be effectively managed, and fracture risk reduced, by lifestyle changes and/or medication. Despite this, 75% of individuals with osteoporosis remain undiagnosed and untreated. Diagnosis relies on GPs identifying at-risk patients and referring them for a specific scan that measures bone mineral density (BMD), called a DEXA scan. However, with few signs or symptoms, and GPs facing unprecedented time-constraints due to workforce pressures, traditional osteoporosis screening is not working. Naitive Technologies have developed OsteoSight, an image analysis tool that leverages the hidden information contained in the millions of X-rays that are taken every year, generally for reasons unrelated to bone density. OsteoSight automatically analyses hip and pelvic X-rays to produce an estimate of BMD, which can then be used to alert clinicians that the patient is at-risk/has osteoporosis. In development, OsteoSight results were shown to closely correlate with BMD, as measured by DEXA scans, on historic data. This project aims to extend OsteoSight's capabilities to cover the vertebrae of the spine seen in chest X-rays (43.4% of all X-rays taken). This greatly increase the number of people screened, and thereby the number diagnosed and treated for osteoporosis before a painful and potentially deadly fracture occurs. This project would make Naitive world leader in this domain, bringing economic benefits to the UK through OsteoSight sales across the international market, and the creation of many high-tech jobs, placing the UK at forefront of AI. It will improve the lives of thousands of NHS patients -- reducing A&E attendances, emergency procedures, and the rehabilitation and outpatient costs associated with long fracture recovery times.