Frequency dependence of the ultrasonic power reflected from the water-tissue interface of human cancellous bone in vitro

Abstract

Numerous studies have performed in vitro ultrasonic measurements of cancellous bone in water to develop techniques for ultrasonic bone assessment. Because cancellous bone is a highly porous medium, ultrasonic reflections at the water-bone interface may be frequency dependent. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of porosity on the frequency dependence of the reflected power. Ultrasonic measurements were performed in a water tank at room temperature on 15 specimens of cancellous bone prepared from the proximal end of 9 human femurs using single element, broadband transducers with center frequencies of 3.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 MHz. Power spectra of pulses reflected from the water-specimen interface were corrected for the frequency response of the measurement system to obtain the reflected power in decibels RdB( f). To suppress random phase cancellation effects, RdB( f) was averaged over multiple sites on multiple specimens. A frequency dependence of RdB( f) was observed in the 2.6–10 MHz range. The frequency dependence was moderate, with a maximum change of less than 6 dB over the entire frequency range. RdB( f) was greatest for low porosity specimens. The frequency averaged intensity reflection coefficient ranged from 7.4 × 10−4 to 7.8 × 10−3 for high and low porosity specimen groups, respectively.