Phase cancellation effect on broadband ultrasonic attenuation analysis for human trabecular bone assessment using a 2-D synthetic array

Abstract

Quantitative ultrasound has been developed to evaluate trabecular BMD and structural integrity. The ultrasound parameters, i.e., normalized broadband attenuation (nBUA), have been widely used for bone health status. However, the reproducibility and accuracy of nBUA are influenced by the phenomena of phase cancellation. The objectives of this study have two folds, 1) to accurately investigate the effects of phase cancellation on BUA calculation using an ultra-small receiver (aperture size: 0.2 mm) in a newly developed 2-D synthetic array-system, and 2) to evaluate the effects of phase cancellation on human trabecular bones. Most energy was located within a circle with a diameter of 12.70 mm corresponding to the transmitter aperture size. The tests of ultrasound BUA and micro-CT on the trabecular bone cylinders with a diameter of 25 mm. Both phase sensitive (PS) detection and phase insensitive (PI) detections were performed. The data indicated that the average nBUA is 24.8±9.5 dB/MHz/cm and 19.2±5.5 dB/MHz/...