[Advances of non-invasive detections of bone microarchitecture]

Osteoporosis is a common metabolic disease which is characteristic of less bone mass and impaired bone microarchitecture, leading to the decreasing of bone strength as well as to the increasing of brittle bones and the risk of fracture. It was found that bone quality, including bone microarchitecture, the composition of mineral and organic matrix, microdamage and the status of bone repair, can influence bone strength as bone mineral density can do. Since the compositions of tissue material are generally similar in people, microarchitecture is used as the important index for the assessment of bone mechanical properties. Currently the none-invasive detective methods in use for bone have become a research topic. Such methods as ultrasonic imaging, computer tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and finite element analysis are reviewed in this paper.