DEXA SCANNER
NOW AVAILABLE ON ALMA’S CAMPUS College is offering the public the opportunity to use machine at lower rates
Alma College is offering a new service that is designed to both improve community health and provide students with real-world experience they will take with them and use long after graduation.
Housed in the Integrative Physiology and Health Science (IPHS) department, the college recently acquired a DEXA scanner and is offering members of the public the opportunity to use it at rates much less than they would at hospitals or health clinics.
For between $50 and $100, individuals can work with students and health professionals to find out a variety of information about their bone destiny and body composition — which can be very helpful in learning their risk of disease and injury, among other applications.
“It’s recommended that women of a certain age get this scan annually in order to assess their risk for osteoporosis,” said Alex Montoye, associate professor and IPHS department chair at Alma College. “Anyone who exercises regularly would benefit from this test, and student-athletes are frequent users of it. Some people get scans prior to starting a weight loss or exercise program in order to be able to detect changes in body composition with their lifestyle change. Others choose to get scans before surgery or after an injury in order to to help guide rehabilitation strategies. There are all sorts of applications for it.”
Learn more about the Alma College Integrative Physiology and Health Science program.
Here’s how it works at Alma College: a DEXA (short for dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) machine passes an x-ray beam through the body, usually in the hip and the spine. The amount of radiation used in the scan is pretty minimal, similar to a dentist’s x-ray. After about 15 minutes, you’re all done, and you’ll await a phone call from Montoye and his team.
They will provide you with a “Z-score,” which shows how your bone density compares with people similar to you in terms of age, gender and ethnicity. They can also tell you other interesting tidbits, such as your body fat percentage and percentage of lean mass,