Multichannel instantaneous frequency analysis of ultrasound propagating in cancellous bone

An ultrasonic pulse propagating in cancellous bone can be separated into two waves depending on the condition of the specimen. These two waves, which are called the fast wave and the slow wave, provide important information for the diagnosis of osteoporosis. The present study proposes to utilize a signal processing method that extracts the instantaneous frequency (IF) of waveforms from multiple spectral channels. The instantaneous frequency was expected to be able to show detailed time-frequency properties of ultrasonic waves being transmitted through cancellous bone. The employed method, termed the multichannel instantaneous frequency (MCIF) method, showed robustness against background noise as compared to the IF that was directly derived from the original waveform. The extracted IF revealed that the frequency of the fast wave was affected by both the propagation distance within the specimen and the bone density, independently. On the other hand, the alternation of the center frequency of the originally transmitted wave did not produce proportional changes in the extracted IF values of the fast waves, suggesting that the fast wave IF mainly reflected the thickness of the specimens. These findings may provide the possibility of obtaining a more precise diagnosis of osteoporosis.