In vitro comparison of quantitative computed tomography and broadband ultrasonic attenuation of trabecular bone.

In vitro measurements of os calces and trabecular bone samples have been carried out using broadband ultrasonic attenuation (BUA) and quantitative computed tomography (QCT). The correlation between the measurements was 0.92 and 0.86 for the heelbones and the trabecular samples respectively, and the QCT and BUA correlated equally well with the physical density of the samples, indicating that the new ultrasonic technique is potentially useful for the evaluation of trabecular bone for the diagnosis of osteoporosis.