Bone Loss, Age-Related clinical trials

Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) Osteoporosis Pilot Study

This examines in-vivo microwave sensing to measure a radio- frequency signal propagating through the wrist and, based on this information, establish a correlation of measured parameters with the integral bone density. This radio- frequency device is designed to obtain an integral estimate of bone density (osteoporotic vs normal). The measurements can be done in three ways. The first method (Method 1) utilizes Received Signal Strength (RSS) of an RFID tag array at 915 megahertz located on the top of the wrist. The transmitting antenna located on the bottom of the wrist is connected to an RFID reader. In that way, the signal travels twice across the wrist: from the reader to the tag and vice versa. The second method (Method 2) is to use only one transmitting antenna, connect the transmitting antenna to a portable Network Analyzer and measure the reflection coefficient, S11, of the antenna itself. This method does not imply that the entire signal will travel back and forth through the wrist, although its significant portion will. This method is, however, broadband and allows us to measure antenna resonances, which are very sensitive to the wrist composition. The third method (Method 3) is to use both transmitting and receiving antennas, connect the antennas to a portable KeySight Network Analyzer and measure the transmission coefficient, S21, of the antenna pair. This method implies that the entire signal will travel through the wrist once. This method is also broadband and allows us to measure decay of the radio-signal in the wrist over a band of frequencies. The two last methods could be combined together.