Effect of trabecular material property on ultrasonic backscattering in cancellous bone

Abstract

Ultrasonic backscattering technique, used to assess cancellous bone status, is investigated using numerical simulations based on two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. High resolution microstructure mappings of bovine cancellous bone, provided by micro-CT, are used as the input geometry for simulations. This paper focused on the effects of material property parameters (density, lame coefficients, viscosities, and resistance coefficients) of the trabecular on ultrasonic backscattering measurements at 1MHz. Simulations of ultrasonic backscattering in cancellous bone for different trabecular parameters were carried out and the backscatter coefficient (BSC) were measured and discussed. The results demonstrate that BSC is a nonlinear function of trabecular density and increases with trabecular density. While BSC is affected little by the viscosities, the first and second lame coefficients have a complex effect on BSC. BSC is almost a linear function of normal resistance coefficient (NRC) ...