Effect of intracortical bone properties on the phase velocity and cut-off frequency of low-frequency guided wave modes (20–85 kHz)

Abstract

Manuscript (TeX or Word only) Click here to access/download;Manuscript (TeX or Word only);Manuscript.tex JASA/Sample JASA Article The assessment of intracortical bone properties is of interest since early-stage osteoporosis is associated with resorption in the endosteal region. However, understanding the interaction between ultrasonic guided waves and the cortical bone structure remains challenging. The purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of intracortical bone properties on the ultrasonic response obtained at low-frequency (<100 kHz) using an axial transmission configuration. The semi-analytical finite element method was used to simulate the propagation of guided waves in a waveguide with realistic geometry and material properties. An array of 20 receivers was used to calculate the phase velocity and cutoff frequency of the excited modes using the 2D Fourier transform. The results show that the position of the emitter around the circumference of the bone is an important parameter to control since it can lead to variations of up to 10 dB in the amplitude of the transmitted modes. The cutoff frequency of the high order modes was, however, only slightly affected by the circunferential position of the emitter, and was sensitive mainly to the axial shear modulus. The phase velocity and cutoff frequency in the 20-85 kHz range are promising parameters for the assessment of intracortical properties.

Sensitivity of low-frequency axial transmission acoustics to axially and azimuthally varying cortical thickness: A phantom-based study

“…While these simplifications were made purposefully to follow the systematic approach of investigating effects caused by individual properties, we expect the observed effects of changing cortical thickness to hold for real bone—even though they could possibly be overshadowed by other effects. For example, pores and bone marrow have substantially different acoustic properties compared to air and are known to modify wave propagation [15,24,27,43]. These effects, as well as the effects arising from anisotropy [44,45] or a more realistic shape [15,46], should be investigated in future work.…”

“…For example, pores and bone marrow have substantially different acoustic properties compared to air and are known to modify wave propagation [15,24,27,43]. These effects, as well as the effects arising from anisotropy [44,45] or a more realistic shape [15,46], should be investigated in future work. Even though the smooth and gradual axial variations in cTh did not strongly alter wave propagation, more abrupt changes could cause other effects, such as axial reflections from the thickness discontinuity.…”

“…Typical application sites include the tibia, radius, and ulna, but recently the femur has received increased attention [5,8,9]. While ax-QA has shown promising results for detecting bone pathologies and many material and structural properties [6,7,10–15], the disentanglement of individual effects has emerged as a key challenge for further developments. In a previous work [16], we have therefore proposed a systematic bottom-up approach that investigates the effect of variations in individual bone properties onto the wave propagation, before later progressing to interaction effects.…”

Ex vivo vibro-acoustography characterization of osteoporosis in an experimental mice model

“…While we did not use the most common models of experimental osteoporosis described in the literature, our trabecular bone loss was equivalent to these classical models, as depicted by our microCT results, that showed severe bone loss in the OG. Quantitative ultrasonometry (QUS) is another ultrasound technique used to evaluate bone tissue, based on velocity and amplitude attenuation of ultrasound waves (57)(58)(59). QUS is not used to obtain images, but to measure and assess tissue properties (60).…”

Caracterização da resposta acústica por vibro-acustografia em fêmures de camundongos em um modelo experimental ex-vivo

“…A ultrassonografia quantitativa (QUS) é outra técnica de ultrassom usada para avaliar o tecido ósseo, que tem como base a atenuação da velocidade e da amplitude das ondas de ultrassom (BERNARD et al, 2017;PEREIRA et al, 2019;XU et al, 2016). O QUS não é usado para obter imagens, mas sim para quantificar propriedades mecânicas dos tecidos (BARKMANN, 2008).…”