Method for determining the risk of developing a skeletal condition

1. A method for determining a risk value of developing a skeletal condition in a patient, the method comprising steps of:

a) taking at least one picture of said patient and obtaining position data from said picture identifying a position in space of body landmarks of the upper body of a patient while standing relaxed and in normal posture;

b) establishing a relationship between risk of developing a skeletal condition and a plurality of factors including posture;

c) calculating at least two of head angle, thoracic curve, lumbar curve and pelvis tilt angle deviation values of said patient using the position data; and

d) calculating said risk of developing a skeletal condition using said angle deviation values and said relationship.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said skeletal condition is fracture.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said fracture is selected from the group consisting of neck fracture and hip fracture.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein said relationship is ((Age factor×0.15)+(Postural factor×0.50)+(Height Change factor×0.15))×BMI factor.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein said postural factor is calculated in a manner in which head angle contributes for about 25% of the postural factor, kyphosis contributes for about 50% of the postural factor, lordosis contributes for about 13% of the postural factor and pelvic angle contributes for about 12% of the postural factor.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said body landmarks are tragus, acromion, C7 vertebrae, T5 vertebrae, anterior-superior iliac spine and posterior-superior iliac spine.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein a flat marker is placed on the tragus and spherical markers are placed on the acromion, C7 vertebrae, T5 vertebrae, anterior-superior iliac spine and posterior-superior iliac spine.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said at least one picture is a lateral view of said patient.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said angle deviations calculated are head angle, thoracic curve or kyphosis, lumbar curve or lordosis, and pelvis tilt.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said angle deviation values are referenced with respect to average values.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein said skeletal condition is osteoporosis.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein step (de) includes calculating a postural factor in which head angle contributes for about 25% of the postural factor, kyphosis contributes for about 50% of the postural factor, lordosis contributes for about 13% of the postural factor and pelvic angle contributes for about 12% of the postural factor.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising calculating a body mass index (BMI) for the patient, and determining lordosis angle to be pelvic angle plus about 22 degrees when BMI is greater than about 25kg per m 2 .

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said skeletal condition is osteoporosis.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said relationship is ((Age factor×0.35)+(Postural factor×0.30)+(Height Change factor×0.15))×BMl factor.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein said postural factor Is calculated in a manner in which head angle contributes for about 25% of the postural factor, kyphosis contributes for about 50% of the postural factor, lordosis contributes for about 13% of the postural factor and pelvic angle contributes for about 12% of the postural factor.

17. A method of selecting exercises for reducing risk to develop a skeletal condition in a patient, the method comprising the steps of:

a) obtaining angle deviations of body part of a patient indicative of a risk to develop a skeletal condition, said angle deviations comprising at least two from the group consisting of head angle, thoracic curve, lumbar curve and pelvis tilt;

b) correlating angle deviations with exercises for strengthening or stretching specific muscles or muscle groups;

c) compiling an exercise program based on the exercises provided in step b).

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of compiling comprises manually selecting exercises from a list of exercises.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein said skeletal condition is selected from the group consisting of osteoporosis and fracture.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein said fracture is selected from the group consisting of neck fracture and hip fracture.

21. The method of claim 17 , wherein said angle deviations comprise head angle, thoracic curve, lumbar curve and pelvis tilt.

22. An apparatus for estimating skeletal condition risk in a patient comprising:

a) a position data acquisition device for identifying a position in space of body landmarks of an upper body of the patient while standing relaxed and in normal posture;

b) an angle of deviation calculator for determining angle deviation values of body parts being indicative of a skeletal condition risk using the position data, said angle deviations comprising at least two from the group consisting of head angle, thoracic curve, lumbar curve and pelvis tilt; and

c) a calculator adapted to calculate a value for said risk using a relationship between said risk and a plurality of factors including said angle deviation values.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein said skeletal condition is selected from the group consisting of osteoporosis arid fracture.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein said fracture is selected from the group consisting of neck fracture and hip fracture.

25. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein said angle deviation value is with respect to average or normal value.

26. An apparatus for selecting exercises for reducing risk to develop a skeletal condition in a patient comprising:

a) an angle of deviation device for obtaining angle deviations of an upper body part of a patient being indicative of a risk to develop a skeletal condition, said angle deviations comprising at least two from the group consisting of head angle, thoracic curve, lumbar curve and pelvis tilt;

b) a correlator for correlating angle deviations with exercises for strengthening or stretching muscles or muscle groups;

c) a compiler for compiling an exercise program based on the exercises provided in step b).