A two-phase medium model for predicting the dependence of the phase velocity on the porosity in cancellous bone

초록

Advances in modeling propagation of ultrasound in cancellous bone underpin the ability of ultrasound to diagnose bone health. The complexity has been increasing as such models seek to reflect to a greater degree the complexity in the human bone through which ultrasound propagates. This paper outlines an extremely simple model for ultrasonic propagation in cancellous bone, which is a two-phase medium in which the cancellous bone is modeled as a mixture of two fluid phases. This model requires four basic inputs, and it is shown here that these are the same four inputs that have been common to all models of ultrasonic propagation in cancellous bone to date. The application of this model to predict the phase velocity, across the entire range of porosities (from 0 to 100%) indicates inherent constraints that may influence the prediction of complete models for a narrow range of porosities of typical human cancellous bone. This paper does not propose that the simple two-phase medium model replace other complex models; nevertheless, its us(, in identifying the main drivers, the constraints, and the commonalities among the suite of more comprehensive models is enlightening.

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