A Novel Ultrasound Methodology for Estimating Spine Mineral Density

Abstract

We investigated the possible clinical feasibility and accuracy of an innovative ultrasound (US) method for diagnosis of osteoporosis of the spine. A total of 342 female patients (aged 51–60 y) underwent spinal dual X-ray absorptiometry and abdominal echographic scanning of the lumbar spine. Recruited patients were subdivided into a reference database used for US spectral model construction and a study population for repeatability and accuracy evaluation. US images and radiofrequency signals were analyzed via a new fully automatic algorithm that performed a series of spectral and statistical analyses, providing a novel diagnostic parameter called the osteoporosis score (O.S.). If dual X-ray absorptiometry is assumed to be the gold standard reference, the accuracy of O.S.-based diagnoses was 91.1%, with k = 0.859 (p < 0.0001). Significant correlations were also found between O.S.-estimated bone mineral densities and corresponding dual X-ray absorptiometry values, with r2 values up to 0.73 and a root mean square error of 6.3%–9.3%. The results obtained suggest that the proposed method has the potential for future routine application in US-based diagnosis of osteoporosis.