1,000th Woman Identified Using Sectra's Analysis Method - European Mammography Clinics Mark Milestone in the Struggle Against Osteoporosis

SHELTON, Connecticut, February 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --



One thousand women in Europe at very high risk of contracting osteoporosis have now been identified as a result of the Sectra OneScreen online service. Women who can now drastically reduce the risk of painful fractures because inexpensive and effective treatment of the disease is available.  Increasing numbers of mammography clinics throughout Europe are using this service to screen for osteoporosis, an initiative that enhances women's quality of life, reduces unnecessary suffering and enables major savings in healthcare by reducing the number of fractures caused by osteoporosis.

     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20111128/496720 )

"Regular mammography examinations are natural for most women. Now there is an effective method that enables the early identification of osteoporosis at the same time using bone-density measurements. This may mean that many women will avoid unnecessary suffering," says Torbjörn Kronander, President of Sectra's medical operation.

Osteoporosis is an underdiagnosed disease and there is great need for simple, cost-effective methods of identifying patients in need of treatment. With Sectra's method, an x-ray of the hand provides the basis for an osteoporosis diagnosis. The image is taken at the same time as the breast images during the mammogram and using the same digital radiology equipment. The extra examination takes less than 30 seconds. An Internet connection and a digital radiology equipment are required for using this service.

About Sectra's online service

Osteoporosis can be identified by measuring bone density. Sectra's analysis of bone density is conducted using Sectra's patented technology, Digital X-ray Radiogrammetry (DXR).  With the help of this technology, women in the osteoporosis risk group can be identified and offered further examination and treatment.  Sectra's online service is ideal for use in identifying and prioritizing those women who should be examined using DXA measurement, a technique for analyzing bone mass that is more expensive and considerably more time-consuming than DXR.

Sectra's online service for the analysis of osteoporosis is currently used in the UK, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Norway and Sweden.

Facts about osteoporosis^[1]

• Some 52 million people in the US are estimated to suffer from osteoporosis.
• 2 million osteoporosis-related fractures, primarily radio carpal, hip and vertebra fractures, occurs in the US annually.
• The disease is caused by an imbalance in the remodeling of the skeleton, which in turn can be caused, for example, by an unhealthy lifestyle, genetic factors or drugs used to treat other diseases.
• Affects one in three women and one in five men over the age of 50.
• One of the diseases causing the highest economic burden for healthcare.

About Sectra

Sectra develops and sells IT systems and services for radiology, women's health, orthopaedics and rheumatology. More than 1,100 hospitals, clinics and imaging centers worldwide use the systems daily, together performing over 55 million radiology examinations annually. This makes Sectra one of the world-leading companies within systems for handling digital radiology images. In Scandinavia, Sectra is the market leader with more than 50% of all film-free installations. Sectra's systems have been installed in North America, Scandinavia and most major countries in Europe and the Far East.

Sectra was founded in 1978 and has its roots in Linköping University in Sweden. The company's business operations include cutting-edge products and services within the niche segments of medical systems and secure communication systems. Sectra has offices in 12 countries and operates through partners worldwide. Sales in the 2010/2011 fiscal year totaled SEK 784 million. The Sectra share is quoted on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm AB exchange. For more information, visit http://www.sectra.com

1. International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) http://www.iofbonehealth.org/

For additional information:
Dr. Torbjörn Kronander, President, Sectra Imtec AB, +46-705-23-52-27
Press room: http://www.sectra.com/medical/press/
Press images: flickr.com/photos/sectramedicalsystems
Video: http://www.sectra.com/onescreen/demo

SOURCE Sectra