Feasibility of a Nonlinear Acoustic Method for the Assessment of Bone Status and Osteoporosis in Trabecular Bone

• Published in: Journal of the Korean Physical Society 2018, 73(12), , pp.1849-1854
• Main Author: Lee, Kang Il
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acoustic measurement; Attenuation; Biocompatibility; Bone density; Broadband; Correlation coefficients; Feasibility studies; Mathematical and Computational Physics; Osteoporosis; Parameters; Particle and Nuclear Physics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Resonant frequencies; Theoretical; Ultrasonic imaging; 물리학
• ISSN: 0374-4884; 1976-8524
• DOI: 10.3938/jkps.73.1849

The present study aims to investigate the feasibility of using a simple nonlinear acoustic method for the assessment of bone status and osteoporosis in trabecular bone. Correlations of linear and nonlinear ultrasound parameters with the apparent bone density were obtained in 32 bovine femoral trabecular bone samples. Highly significant positive correlations were observed between the apparent bone density and the two linear ultrasound parameters, the speed of sound (SOS) and the normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation (nBUA), with Spearman’s correlation coefficients of r = 0.85 and 0.77. In contrast, the apparent bone density was found to be negatively correlated with the nonlinear ultrasound parameter introduced in the present study, the logarithmic difference between the power spectrum levels of the fundamental frequency and the second harmonic (PSL1-PSL2), with the highest correlation coefficient of r = −0.92. These results suggest that the PSL1-PSL2, in addition to the SOS and the nBUA, may be useful for the assessment of bone status and osteoporosis.