title: Ultrasound propagation in cortical bone: Axial transmission and backscattering simulations.
abstract: Cortical bone is a heterogeneous, composite medium with a porosity from 5-10%. The characterization of cortical bone using ultrasonic techniques is a complicated procedure especially in numerical studies as several assumptions must be made to describe the concentration and size of pores. This study presents numerical simulations of ultrasound propagation in two-dimensional numerical models of cortical bone to investigate the effect of porosity on: a) the propagation of the first arriving signal (FAS) velocity using the axial transmission method, and b) the displacement and scattering amplitude in the backward direction. The excitation frequency 1 MHz was used and different receiving positions were examined to provide a variation profile of the examined parameters along cortical bone. Cortical porosity was simulated using ellipsoid scatterers and the concentrations of 0-10% were examined. The results indicate that the backscattering method is more appropriate for the evaluation of cortical porosity in comparison to the axial transmission method.
authors.forename: Vassiliki T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Potsika
authors.forename: Konstantinos N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Grivas
authors.forename: Theodoros
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gortsas
authors.forename: Vasilios C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Protopappas
authors.forename: Demosthenes K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Polyzos
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Raum
authors.forename: Dimitrios I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Fotiadis
mesh_terms: D001842:Bone and Bones; D003198:Computer Simulation; D000071538:Cortical Bone; D008954:Models, Biological; D016062:Porosity; D014463:Ultrasonography