Measurement of velocity and attenuation of shear waves in bovine compact bone using ultrasonic spectroscopy.

The ultrasonic spectroscopy (broadband pulse) technique was applied to simultaneously measure phase velocity and attenuation coefficient of shear waves in bovine compact bone at frequencies ranging from 4.0-10.0 MHz. It was found that the ratio of attenuation coefficient of shear waves to that of longitudinal waves at a particular frequency for bovine compact bone was smaller than that of other polymer synthesizing materials. The anisotropy of phase velocity and attenuation coefficient of compact bone was also experimentally examined.