title: Comparison of three ultrasonic axial transmission methods for bone assessment.
abstract: This study compared three approaches to bone assessment using ultrasonic axial transmission. In 41 fresh human radii, velocity of the first arriving signal was measured with a commercial device (Sunlight Omnisense) operating at 1.25 MHz, a prototype based on 1-MHz bidirectional axial transmission and a low-frequency (200 kHz) prototype, also measuring the velocity of a slower wave. Cortical and trabecular bone mineral density, cortical thickness and cross-sectional area were determined by peripheral quantitative computed tomography. Significant but modest correlation between velocities reflects differences in the nature of the propagating waves and methodological differences. Of the higher frequency devices, bidirectional measurements provided stronger correlations with bone properties than did conventional measurements. High-frequency devices were less sensitive to cortical thickness than was the low-frequency device, because higher frequency waves interrogate thinner cortical layers. The results suggest that different axial transmission approaches reflect different bone properties. Therefore, a multifrequency technique might be useful in probing different bone properties.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Imagerie Paramétrique, UMR CNRS 7623, Université Paris 6, 15 rue de l'Ecole de Médecine, 75006 Paris, France. marie.muller@lip.bhdc.jussieu.fr
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moilanen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bossy
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kilappa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Timonen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Talmant
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Laugier
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015519:Bone Density; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002102:Cadaver; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011884:Radius / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014465:Ultrasonics; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation