GE Healthcare's advanced bone mineral density scan system, Dexa Scan, is expected to provide easy and simple diagnosis to the patients in the far flung regions of the country. Dexa scan is based on "fan-beam" x-ray bone densitometer technology fitted in a mobile van. It operates on Dual-Energy X-ray Absorbtiometry and is used to measure and calculate bone, fat and muscle mass.

Dexa scans is considered to be the 'gold standard' for physicians to detect and diagnose skeletal diseases, including osteoporosis. It can also perform vertebral imaging.

GE's novel mobile prodigy and other lunar technologies help to detect low bone mass and increased risk of fracture, with direct digital technology, precision and accuracy.

"Rather than the patient driving farther for BMD and body composition testing, we can bring these advanced health care technologies closer to the patient's home," said Laura Stoltenberg, general manager, GE Healthcare's Lunar business.

GE Lunar also will demonstrate unique technology to help physicians measure BMD in children, as well as systems to enable licensed medical practitioners to simultaneously assess body composition and ascertain fat distribution in adults.

GE Lunar features enhanced enCORE software which will allow physicians to measure a child's bone density, fat and lean tissue mass composition, by factoring in and trending the child's age, height and other variables. It will enable the physician to separate out the child's growth from other changes to the size and density of the skeleton.

In addition to the BMD assessment, a new body composition software system can help people and their physicians establish goals for weight loss, exercise and diet regimes.

Lunar systems work by measuring the regional and whole body BMD, plus lean and fat tissue mass. It calculates the derivative values that can be displayed in user-defined statistical formats.

The body composition values are useful to licensed medical practitioners in their management of diseases and conditions. However the option does not diagnose a disease, or recommend treatment regimens, or quantify treatment effectiveness. Only the licensed medical practitioner can make these judgments. Some of the diseases or conditions for which body composition values are useful include chronic renal failure, anorexia nervosa, obesity, AIDS/HIV and cystic fibrosis.

Lunar iDXA software also gives physicians dedicated reporting for body composition measurements and high percentage color fat mapping. Patients can easily follow the report divided into three compartments: lean mass, total body tissue percent fat, and bone density.