Quantitative ultrasound for bone status assessment

Abstract

In recent years, quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurements has played a growing role in the assessment of skeletal status. This development is attributable to the now wide availability of ultrasonic equipment which provides equivalent fracture risk assessment compared to conventional X-ray absorptiometric techniques. Currently available technologies are based on measurements in transmission of the slope of the frequency-dependent attenuation and the speed of sound at peripheral skeletal sites (calcaneus, finger phalanges, radius). Several investigations are currently being conducted by our group and others to develop innovative QUS techniques to determine and utilize the full potential of QUS for the benefit of detecting pathological conditions that affect bone strength, such as imaging QUS technology, reflection techniques based either on critical angle reflectometry or backscatter, and axial transmission techniques based on the propagation of guided waves along the bone surface.