CompuMed, Inc., a developer of Computer Aided Diagnostic (CAD) solutions for the healthcare industry, announced the signing of a licensing agreement that enables Kodak Electronic Products Shanghai Co., Ltd (KEPS) to enhance its market-leading digital radiography (DR) and computed radiography (CR) systems with CompuMed's proprietary OsteoGram osteoporosis screening software. KEPS is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Eastman Kodak Company.

Under the terms of the one-year agreement, KEPS will exclusively license and distribute the DICOM version of the OsteoGram on existing and new DR and CR systems in the People's Republic of China. KEPS has the largest installed base of digital radiography systems in China, and currently markets its products via a direct sales organization, as well as a comprehensive nationwide network of medical imaging distributors.

"We are pleased to partner with Kodak China and to expand our relationship with the Kodak Health Group family," said Jerry McLaughlin, chief executive officer of CompuMed. "As the Chinese market leader in digital radiography, Kodak China is very well positioned to lead the charge against osteoporosis, which is a major health concern in Asia."

According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), osteoporosis affects more than 200 million people worldwide, 80 percent of whom are women. The disease poses an increased public health threat for Asian women, mainly due to the lack of calcium in the traditional Asian diet. According to China's 2000 national census, approximately 88 million of its citizens suffer from primary osteoporosis, making China the nation with the world's highest number of osteoporosis patients. The annual medical cost for those affected by the disease is estimated to be about 15 billion Yuan (US.84 billion), a figure that does not take into account the significant strain osteoporosis incurs on China's national healthcare program.

The OsteoGram is a medical image processing system that enables healthcare providers to screen, diagnose and monitor osteoporosis using digital images from filmless x-ray equipment or conventional, film-based hand x-rays. The system analyzes such images via proprietary software that produces a bone mineral density (BMD) report. The OsteoGram is far less costly and cumbersome than conventional hardware-based BMD systems, which require dedicated and expensive equipment, computers, office space and staff.

The DICOM OsteoGram represents the latest advancement to CompuMed's popular software-based imaging system. DICOM (Digital Communications and Imaging in Medicine) is the information standard that allows the new generation of medical imaging equipment to interconnect. DICOM-based systems, such as filmless x-ray platforms and PACS network servers, have become a high growth segment of the medical imaging market.