A DEXA scan measures bone mineral density at the spine and hip and returns a T-score, which is the number osteoporosis is defined by. The dose is a fraction of a chest X-ray, and the value of the first one is that every later scan is measured against it.
Lying still on a table, fully clothed.
A small fraction of a chest X-ray.
KMI STANDARD, the cheapest programme on this site that includes a DEXA scan at all. (≈$373)
One week is the earliest an imaging slot can be held, and there is no referral step before it.
English report in your hands in two weeks on average, one week at the soonest and three at the latest. You also get a consultation on preliminary findings on the day of the screening, before you leave.
Programme contents and prices from each partner centre's own foreigner-facing published list, read 2026-08-05: KMI Global and Hanaro Medical Foundation's English site. Standalone per-test prices are a Korean partner centre's 비급여 (non-covered) posting, the itemised list 의료법 제45조 requires a clinic to publish, read the same day. Scheduling and report turnaround confirmed 2026-08-06 and 2026-10-14 respectively (https://global.kmi.or.kr/examination/foreigner_examination; https://en-mobile.hanaromf.com/program/prog01/prog01_01.jsp), measured 2026-08-05. Dollar figures are converted from each centre's won price at ₩1,342 = $1 (open.er-api.com, 2026-09-13). The won figure is the price; the pairing moves with the rate.
Bone mineral density at the lumbar spine and hip, reported as a T-score against a young-adult reference. It is how osteopenia and osteoporosis are diagnosed, and it is the baseline every future scan is compared with.
It does not find fractures, and a normal T-score does not mean a bone cannot break. It also says nothing about why density is low, which is a blood work-up.
Suits: Women after menopause, men over 65, anyone on long-term steroids, anyone with a parent who fractured a hip, and anyone thin or with a history of low body weight. Also anyone who wants a baseline while it is still cheap to establish one.
Should not have it: Nobody on safety grounds. It is the lowest-dose imaging test in any program. Pregnancy is the exception, as with any X-ray-based scan.
A DEXA scan measures density; an X-ray finds a break. They are not substitutes, and the reason DEXA exists is that bone can lose a third of its density with nothing visible on a plain film.
Included from the Essential tier on this site, because every KMI programme builds on a basic examination that carries a bone mineral density scan, STANDARD included. Hanaro's Silver and Gold include one too, and Severance includes it from Premium upward. At Medione it is fixed in the Senior checkup and added by age band in several others, so check your band before counting on it.
