Ultrasound transmission measurements through the os calcis.
A method of measuring ultrasonic propagation in the os calcis was devised for assessing bone properties in humans. Speed-of-sound (SOS) and broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) were measured using broadband acoustic pulses transmitted and received by a pair of focused transducers. The transducers are mounted coaxially in a water tank with the subject's heel in between. Reproducibility of results in an adult male was 10% for the BUA and 1.2% for the SOS. Both SOS and BUA changed when the transmission path through the os calcis was varied. For a population of normal male subjects, SOS and BUA were correlated with densitometry results on the os calcis, but less well correlated to area density at remote sites.
Zagzebski
J A
JA
University of Wisconsin, Department of Medical Physics, Madison 53706.
Rossman
P J
PJ
Mesina
C
C
Mazess
R B
RB
Madsen
E L
EL
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D015519:Bone Density; D001851:Bone Diseases, Metabolic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002111:Calcaneus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014159:Transducers; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*