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Updated: May 3, 2026
Cortical Bone Assessment Using Ultrasonic Guided Waves: A Reproducibility Study in a Healthy Population
Published on: January 31, 2025
Influence of cortical bone thickness on the ultrasound velocity
Luiz Garcia Mandarano-Filho1, Márcio Takey Bezuti1, Nilton Mazzer1
1Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto - SP, Brazil.
Objective:
An experimental in vitro study was carried out to evaluate the influence of cortical bone thickness on ultrasound propagation velocity.
Methods:
Sixty bone plates were used, made from bovine femurs, with thickness ranging from 1 to 6 mm (10 of each). The ultrasound velocity measurements were performed using a device specially designed for this purpose, in an underwater acoustic tank and with direct contact using contact gel. The transducers were positioned in two ways: on opposite sides, with the bone between them, for the transverse measurement; and parallel to each other, on the same side of the bone plates, for the axial measurements.
Results:
In the axial transmission mode, the ultrasound velocity speed increased with cortical bone thickness, regardless of the distance between the transducers, up to a thickness of 5 mm, then remained constant thereafter. There were no changes in velocity when the transverse measures were made.
Conclusion:
Ultrasound velocity increased with cortical bone thickness in the axial transmission mode, until the thickness surpasses the wavelength, after which point it remained constant.
Level Of Evidence:
Experimental Study.
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