Edward Chew holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering under the supervision of Cheryl Kenneville. (Photo: Georgia Kirkos)
Can AI be used to assess fracture risk in older adults?
That's the main problem the study It is held by doctoral student Edward Chu. Edward Chew is investigating how machine learning can predict fractures in older people with osteoporosis.
If your healthcare worker is currently trying to determine if someone has osteoporosis, you will use DXA Scan, a medical imaging test that measures bone mass and bone density, which are factors that cause a fracture.
Depending on bone condition, future fracture risk is predicted through a questionnaire that elicits age, gender, and other clinical factors, but not results from a DXA scan.
Because CHU wants to change it, DXA scans will become considered when predicting fracture risk, making risk estimates more specific to individuals.
“What's really overlooked is… they don't actually see your image,” Chu said. “They take several factors and give them a generalized score for that.”
“We want to take images that allow us to see the structure of the bone in practice, take the strongest image from a bone material perspective, and bring it into clinical applications that actually take DXA scans into consideration.”
This approach could provide a much more comprehensive tool to predict fracture risk in the case of osteoporosis, a disease affecting more than 2 million Canadians over the age of 40.
Osteoporosis is a serious degenerative disease that increases the risk of fractures, and is more common in women than in men. 80% 80% Of the people who live with osteoporosis diagnosed, this is a woman.
“It's essential to be protected against falls in the osteoporosis population,” Chu said. Falls are the main cause of injuries in older people and have a long-term impact on their health and well-being.
“After you fall, it can be very debilitating,” he said. You may not be able to perform your daily tasks and the chances of injury in the second fall are significantly higher.
“When you're over 65, you're generally very interested in mobility. If you lose your mobility, you lose your independence,” he said. “We want to be able to take precautions to do so.”
But “it's very difficult for a person to measure the strength of their bones… so we want to be able to do it for you,” Chu said.
Another advantage of DXA scans is that they have lower power compared to typical X-rays. “It's much easier to get a scan in your body. This is beneficial for vulnerable groups,” Chu said. “We want to reduce the amount of exposure you get.”
It is important to accurately assess the risk of fractures, as this will help guide recommendations from healthcare professionals. Based on the level of risk, it may suggest, for example, exercise to improve strength and balance, or change certain medications to reduce dizziness and drowsiness, or treat other conditions that may increase the risk of fractures.
He is working to better assess future fractures, so Chu said it's a great advantage to do this work with McMaster's multidisciplinary team.
“My research includes the health sciences field, the engineering field, the computer science field, and the public health field,” he said. “It's very difficult to juggle all of them.”
But “I have the best resources for McMaster in Canada. I'm reaching out to each of these areas.”
Chu recently received the 2025 Labarge Mobility PhD Scholarship from the McMaster Institute for Eging (MIRA) and the Large Barge Centre at Larbarge Mobility in Aging. A $3,000 targeted scholarship from the municipal retiree organization Ontario (MROO).
