Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dwight Look College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Phys Med Biol. 2010 Aug 21;55(16):4839-59. doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/55/16/014. Epub 2010 Aug 3.
Ultrasound is emerging as an attractive alternative modality to standard x-ray and CT methods for bone assessment applications. As of today, however, there is a lack of systematic studies that investigate the performance of diagnostic ultrasound techniques in bone imaging applications. This study aims at understanding the performance limitations of new ultrasound techniques for imaging bones in controlled experiments in vitro. Experiments are performed on samples of mammalian and non-mammalian bones with controlled defects with size ranging from 400 microm to 5 mm. Ultrasound findings are statistically compared with those obtained from the same samples using standard x-ray imaging modalities and optical microscopy. The results of this study demonstrate that it is feasible to use diagnostic ultrasound imaging techniques to assess sub-millimeter bone defects in real time and with high accuracy and precision. These results also demonstrate that ultrasound imaging techniques perform comparably better than x-ray imaging and optical imaging methods, in the assessment of a wide range of controlled defects both in mammalian and non-mammalian bones. In the future, ultrasound imaging techniques might provide a cost-effective, real-time, safe and portable diagnostic tool for bone imaging applications.
超声技术作为一种有吸引力的替代标准 X 射线和 CT 方法的模态，在骨骼评估应用中逐渐兴起。然而，截至目前，仍缺乏系统研究来探究诊断超声技术在骨骼成像应用中的性能。本研究旨在通过体外控制实验来了解新超声技术在骨骼成像中的性能限制。实验是在具有尺寸范围从 400 微米到 5 毫米的可控缺陷的哺乳动物和非哺乳动物骨骼样本上进行的。超声结果与使用标准 X 射线成像方式和光学显微镜获得的结果进行了统计学比较。该研究的结果表明，使用诊断超声成像技术实时、高精度和高精准地评估亚毫米级骨骼缺陷是可行的。这些结果还表明，在评估哺乳动物和非哺乳动物骨骼中广泛的可控缺陷时，超声成像技术在评估方面的性能优于 X 射线成像和光学成像方法。在未来，超声成像技术可能为骨骼成像应用提供一种具有成本效益、实时、安全和便携的诊断工具。
