Keele Research Repository

Osteoporotic fractures present a significant social and economic burden, which is set to rise
commensurately with the aging population. Greater understanding of the physicochemical differences
between osteoporotic and normal conditions will facilitate the development of diagnostic technologies
with increased performance and treatments with increased efficacy. Using coherent X-ray scattering we
have evaluated a population of 108 ex vivo human bone samples comprised of non-fracture and fracture
groups. Principal component fed linear discriminant analysis was used to develop a classification
model to discern each condition resulting in a sensitivity and specificity of 93% and 91%, respectively.
Evaluating the coherent X-ray scatter differences from each condition supports the hypothesis that a
causal physicochemical change has occurred in the fracture group. This work is a critical step along the
path towards developing an in vivo diagnostic tool for fracture risk prediction.