Correlation between the combination of apparent integrated backscatter-spectral centroid shift and bone mineral density.

PURPOSE

To introduce a new diagnostic parameter: the linear combination of apparent integrated backscatter and spectral centroid shift.

METHODS

Ultrasonic backscatter measurements were performed at the calcanei of 1262 volunteers in vivo. The hip and spine bone mineral densities of the volunteers were measured using dual X-ray absorptiometry. The apparent integrated backscatter and spectral centroid shift were calculated. A new diagnostic parameter, i.e., the linear combination of apparent integrated backscatter and spectral centroid shift, was introduced and its correlation to bone mineral density was analyzed.

RESULTS

The results show that the combination of apparent integrated backscatter and spectral centroid shift is significantly correlated to bone mineral density (R = 0.73-0.84, n = 1262, p < 0.05), and that this correlation is more significant than the correlation between the apparent integrated backscatter and bone mineral density or the correlation between spectral centroid shift and bone mineral density (R = 0.48-0.69, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The combination of apparent integrated backscatter and spectral centroid shift can provide the complementary information of attenuation of the two parameters and predict more information about cancellous bone, and may be employed to assess cancellous bone status.