Numerical Modeling of Ultrasound Wave

Propagation in Cancellous Bone

Abdelhamid Jnane

Mentor: Dr. Luis Cardoso

The City College of New York

Department of Biomedical Engineering

Key words
Wave 3000
Osteoporosis
Biot’s Theory
Cancellos bone
Trabecular bone
ABSTRACT

Ultrasound wave propagation in cancellous bone is a non-invasive method used to determine the

elastic properties of bone and the risk of fracture associated with osteoporosis. Ultrasound simulation is

proposed in this work to assess bone strength and risk of fracture. Because strength and fracture risk are a

function of both bone mineral density and architectural structure, a number of approaches are undergoing

research to evaluate the complex structure present in trabecular bone. Among these approaches, numerical

simulation of ultrasound wave propagation using Finite Differences (FD) has been recently used for the

assessment of acoustical and mechanical properties of trabecular bone tissue. To explore the interactions

of ultrasound wave with trabecular bone, the commercially available CyberLogic, Wave3000 software

was used to perform the simulation to determine whether or not FD-based numerical modeling of

ultrasound wave propagation in porous media predicts the existence of two waves (fast and slow)

accordingly to Biot’s classic poroelastic theory and to characterize the propagation speeds and attenuation

of the fast and slow waves at 2.25 MHz in bones after immobilization (disuse-osteoporosis) and after

treatment with an anti-resorptive drug (risedronate). In this Laboratory Study, it has been experimentally

shown that two waves traveling with different velocity and attenuation may exist in trabecular bone tissue.

The calculated velocity and attenuation of plane waves has been compared to experimental measurements

of ultrasound waves already available from the scanned samples. Finally, the elastic constants have been

derived from both experimental and numerical approaches and have been compared to determine their

correlation coefficient and the role of microstructure on their mechanical properties.

INTRODUCTION

Bone can be classified into two types depending on the macroscopic and the microscopic

characteristics. Cortical bone is the outer part of the bone - it has a compact structure with high volume

fraction above 70%. Cancellous bone is the inner part of the bone - it has a very porous structure with law
volume fraction below 70%. Cancellous bone is comprised of a hard spongy core with cavities filled by

soft tissue, and its mechanical properties are very difficult to analyze, in vivo or in vitro, because of its

complex anisotropy and inhomogeneity structure. The functional competence of bone to bear the

mechanical challenges of its environment is characterized by its mechanical properties. Bone is required to

be stiff and able to resist deformation, thereby making-loading possible. However, bone must also be

flexible and able to absorb energy by deforming without breaking. The quality of bone can be understood

as a compromise of intrinsic and extrinsic bone properties resulting in a material and structure with the

appropriate stiffness, compliance, lightness and strength.

Bone quality is a broad term encompassing a number of factors that influence bone strength

including quantity and quality of bone material and structure. The primary method currently used for

bone quality assessment is based on x-ray absorptiometry which measures total bone mass - the area over

which the mass measurement is made at a particular anatomic site. However, the current method of

absorptiometry does not totally account for fracture risk. Since other factors, such as bone architecture,

also appear to have a role in determining an individual’s risk of fracture, a number of approaches are

undergoing research to evaluate the complex structure present in trabecular bone. Among these

approaches is ultrasound wave propagation, which has the potential for conveying architectural aspects of

bone, and has the advantages of no radiation and lower costs compared with x-ray densitometry methods.

Wave propagation using Finite Differences (FD) has been recently used for the assessment of acoustical

and mechanical properties of trabecular bone tissue. Ultrasound wave propagation in cancellous bone is

widely studied because is a non-invasive method to determine the elastic properties of bone and the risk of

fracture associated with osteoporosis - a skeletal disease characterized by low bone mass and the

disruption of the microstructure of bone tissue causing an increase in bone fragility and enhanced fracture

risk. Most clinical ultrasound wave propagation approaches consider only one wave to propagate.

Recently, we have experimentally shown that two waves traveling with different velocity and attenuation

may exist in cancellous bone.

In this project, we aim to determine whether or not FD-based numerical modeling of ultrasound wave

propagation in porous media predicts the existence of two waves (fast and slow) accordingly to Biot’s

classic theory, which is a powerful comprehensive tool for the study of ultrasonic propagation in fluid-

saturated porous media. We also aim to characterize the propagation speeds and attenuation of the fast and

slow waves at 2.25 MHz in bones after immobilization (disuse-osteoporosis) and after treatment with an

anti-resorptive drug (Risedronate).

In this work commercially available CyberLogic, Wave3000 software was used to perform the

simulation for the assessment of elastic constant for trabecular bone. Wave 3000 is a software package for

ultrasonic calculation. It solves the three-dimensional visco-elastic wave equation using the method of

finite differences. The program simulates the complete spatial and time-dependent acoustic solution, and

allows the user to simulate ultrasound measurements in a variety of source and receiver configurations.

METHOD AND MATERIALS

To investigate the assessment of ultrasound propagation in trabecular bone, forty cubic samples of

trabecular bones were first scanned using a General Electric (GE) eXplore Locus SP Pre-Clinical

Specimen micro-CT acquisition and analysis system. Formalin fixed samples were washed in water at

room temperature for 10 minutes prior to the scanning procedure. For image acquisition, X-ray projections

were generated from the sample each 0.5 degrees, obtaining 720 consecutive views with maximum 17μm

resolution. Five exposures by projection were used to produce high contrast low noise images. The raw

images were corrected for possible pixel defects in the digital detector using bright and dark fields, and a

standard reconstruction algorithm (Feldkamp) included in the GE acquisition system was applied to

generate 3-D volumes from the planar X-ray projections. Scans were calibrated for densities within the

volumes using a phantom containing hydroxyapatite (the main component of bone’s mineralized phase),

air, and water.

Sample preparation

To compute the elastic constant for trabecular bone using Wave 3000, I first converted the DICOM

images files from microCT to *.PCX format using MATLAB code and created 3-D objects from bone

sample slices. Secondly, I set the resolution and added materials (bone, water). Finally, I added the source

of gaussian shaped pulse, which propagates from right to left, and defined the receiver anywhere within

the object (X, Y, Z). It is based on the finite difference (FD) algorithm that computes an approximate

solution to the three-dimensional elastic wave equation. The choice was supported by the fact that the

software offered additional tools for model building facilitating preparation of geometrical bone

representation from three dimensional simulation models of a real bone from Computed Tomography

(CT) images.

Software modeling

The Finite Differences software Wave3000 (CyberLogic, Inc., New York, NY) was used to

numerically model the acoustic wave propagation through trabecular bone samples. This software allows

the user to compute the solution of the 3D-viscoelastic wave equation in the time domain; it uses a finite

difference time domain algorithm to solve and evaluate the displacement vector at each point of the

sample. This software offered additional tools for model building facilitating preparation of geometrical

bone representations and the following method was adopted to model the acoustic wave propagation.

First, the object to be modeled was created by converting the DICOM images files from microCT to

*.PCX format using MATLAB code and creating a 3-D object from 2D sample slices. The object was

specified as a pixel based graphics file, composed of individual pixels, which can have 1 of 256 gray

levels. Each pixel value represents a physical material (water, and bone). Secondly, materials were added:

Water (mimicking soft tissue) and bone. The acoustic parameters of these materials were selected from

the library and the resolution was set to 52.53-voxel/sample size. Finally, the source and receiver were
 added with sine gaussian signal through transmission. The objects are cubical, and the source and receiver

are placed parallel to each other in the X, Y or Z direction.

RESULTS

a) Bone_08 (Immobilized) b) Bone_16 (Treated) c) Bone_21(Control) d) Bone_02 ( Imm. & Treated)

Figure 1: GEHC Micro View, a DICOM format file of the microCT scans of the three-dimensional
trabecular bone architecture from Canine female beagle dog.

Figure 1 shows: (a) immobilized trabecular bone; (b) treated bone with antiresorptive therapy-Risedronate;
(c) non-immobilized bone; and (d) immobilize bone with antiresorptive therapy. In (a) the rods forming
trabecular bone network form less well connected structure with the loss of density and structure due to
immobilization. In (b) and (c) the rod-like columnar structure is more condense with no loss of structure. In
(d) the columnar structure is less resorbed.

a) 15 % of wave propagation b) 25 % of wave propagation c) 50% of wave propagation d) 75 % of wave

propagation

Figure 2: Sequences of snapshots of numerical simulations of wave propagation in canine trabecular

bone. The distance between the transmitter and receiver is 7 mm. In these images the gray level is
inversely proportional to the particle displacement allowing the different propagating waves to be
visualized. The images show the situation at 15 %, 25 %, 50% and 75 % of wave propagation when
radiated for left to right.

Figure 2: Shows the propagation of the ultrasound wave through a 3D cubical trabecular bone (7mm,

7mm, 7mm) using a transducer of 7 mm in diameter. The white area depicts the maximum absolute
pressure. The wave is transmitted from the source (left) and detected at the receiver (right). Snapshots of

the complex wave propagating through the media are shown at different time intervals.

A) µ CT 3D-image of Control Group A) Bone Elastic Coefficients

B) µ CT 3D-image of Immobilized Bone B) Bone Elastic Coefficients

C) µ CT 3D-image of Immobilized C) Bone Elastic Coefficients

And Treated Bone

D) µ CT 3D-image of Treated Group D) Bone Elastic Coefficients

Figure 3: MicroCT scans of the three-dimensional trabecular bone architecture from Canine female
beagle dogs and their calculated bone elastic Coefficient.
 Figure 3 shows different microstructures of trabecular bone: (a) immobilized; (b) treated with

antiresorptive therapy- Risedronate;(c) non-immobilized; and (d) immobilized with antiresorptive

therapy. In (a) the rods forming trabecular bone network form less well connected structure with the loss

of density and structure due to immobilization. In (b) and (c) the rod-like columnar structure is more

condensed with no loss of structure. In (d) the columnar structure is less resorbed. The left side of this

figure shows the change in anisotropy following bone loss due to the antiresorptive treatment is shown

too. The shift from an ellipsoid to a more spherical shape demonstrates that bone loss is not uniform in all

directions. For antiresorptive therapy in immobilization (ImRx), the ellipsoid is smaller than Cn,

consistent with bone loss. However, it maintains the same anisotropy ratio as the control group, indicating

a conservation of function.
 Non-Immobilized Non-Risedronate Treated Group In X Direction

1.5

1
Fast wave
Amplitude (V)

0.5

0
0 2E-06 4E-06 6E-06 8E-06 0.00001 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5

-1
Time (S)
-1.5
Source Receiver *0.0079

Non-Immobilized Non-risedronate Treated Group In Y Direction

1.5

1
Slow
Amplitude (V)

0.5 wave
0
0 2E-06 4E-06 6E-06 8E-06 0.00001 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5

-1
Time (S)
-1.5
Source Receiver * 0.0085

Non_Immobilized Non_Risedronate Treated group In Z Direction

1.5

1
Amplitude (V)

0.5

0
0 2E-06 4E-06 6E-06 8E-06 0.00001 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5

-1

-1.5
Time (S)
Source Receiver * 0.0050

Figure 4: Waveform at 2.25 MHz traveling trough normal bone for 10 microseconds. Each
corresponding graph depicts two longitudinal wave form- fast and slow wave- propagations for each
species at 2.25 MHz traveling in cancellous bone in X, Y, and Z direction.
 Immobilized Non-Risedronate Treated Bone In X Direction

1.5

1
Amplitude (V)

0.5

0
0 2E-06 4E-06 6E-06 8E-06 0.00001 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5

-1

-1.5 Time (S)

Source Receiver * 0.008

Immobilized Non-Risedronate Treated Bone In Y Direction

1.5

1
Amplitude (V)

0.5

0
0.0E+0 2.0E-06 4.0E-06 6.0E-06 8.0E-06 1.0E-05 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5 0

-1
Time (S)
-1.5
Receiver * 0.01555 Emitter

Immobiliz ed Non-Risedronate Tre ate d Bone In Z Dire ction

1.5
1
Amplitude (V)

0.5
0
0 0.000002 0.000004 0.000006 0.000008 0.00001 0.000012 0.000014
-0.5

-1
-1.5 Time (S)
Source Receiver * 0.008

Figure 5: Waveform at 2.25 MHz traveling trough immobilized non-treated bone for 10 microseconds.
Each corresponding graph depicts two longitudinal wave form- fast and slow wave- propagations for each
species at 2.25 MHz traveling in cancellous bone in X, Y, and Z direction.
 Immobilized Risedronate Treated Group In X Direction

1.5

1
Amplitude (V)

0.5

0
0 2E-06 4E-06 6E-06 8E-06 0.00001 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5

-1

-1.5 Time (S)

Source Receiver * 0.0039

Immobilized Risedronate Treated Group In Y Direction

1.5

1
Amplitude (V)

0.5

0
0 2E-06 4E-06 6E-06 8E-06 0.00001 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5

-1
Time (S)
-1.5
Source Receiver * 0.0068

Immobilized Risedronate Treated Group In Z Direction

1.5

1
Amplitude (V)

0.5

0
0 2E-06 4E-06 6E-06 8E-06 0.00001 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5

-1
Time (S)
-1.5
Source Receiver * 0.0091

Figure 6: Waveform at 2.25 MHz traveling trough immobilized treated bone for 10 microseconds Each
corresponding graph depicts two longitudinal wave form- fast and slow wave- propagations for each
species at 2.25 MHz traveling in cancellous bone in X, Y, and Z direction
 Non-Immobilized Risedronate Treated Group In X Direction

1.5

1
Amplitude (V)

0.5

0
0 2E-06 4E-06 6E-06 8E-06 0.00001 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5

-1
Time (S)
-1.5
Source Receiver * 0.0031

Non-Immobilized Risedronate Treated Group In Y Direction

1.5

1
Amplitude (V)

0.5

0
0 2E-06 4E-06 6E-06 8E-06 0.00001 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5

-1
Time (S)
-1.5
Source Receiver * 0.0062

Non-Immobilized Risedronate Treated Group In Z Direction

1.5

1
Amplitude (V)

0.5

0
0 2E-06 4E-06 6E-06 8E-06 0.00001 1.2E-05 1.4E-05
-0.5

-1
Time (S)
-1.5
Source Receiver * 0.0059

Figure 7: Waveform at 2.25 MHz traveling trough normal treated bone for 10 microseconds. Each
corresponding graph depicts two longitudinal wave form- fast and slow wave- propagations for each
species at 2.25 MHz traveling in cancellous bone in X, Y, and Z direction.
 Figure 4,5,6, and 7 all demonstrate the existence of two longitudinal waves propagating for each

sample at 2.25 MHz traveling in the X, Y, and Z direction. Figures 4 and 7 demonstrate waveforms

propagation for high-density trabecular bone; figures 5 and 6 depict waveforms propagation for low-

density bones. In all figures, the fast and slow longitudinal waves can be observed well in the time

domain. As the volume fraction of the solid bone increases the amplitude of the fast wave increases,

however, the amplitude of slow wave decreases.

DISCUSTION AND CONCLUSION

Biot’s theory predicts the existence of two longitudinal waves propagating in fluid-saturated porous

media. Because cancellous bone have a porous media, it is expected that the observed fast and slow

waves in our results correspond to those predicted two waves. The numerical simulations carried out in

this study confirm the existence of the fast and slow waves predicted by Biot’s theory. Accordingly, it can

be observed that the fast wave is associated with the solid frame in cancellous bone, and the slow wave

with the propagation in soft tissue (the marrow).

The Finite Differences Modeling approach used in this study can be expanded to determine the optimal

experimental conditions required to observe two waves in bone to better characterize the mechanical

properties of bone in combination with the poroelastic Biot’s theory. We have experimentally shown that

two waves traveling with different velocity and attenuation may exist in this tissue and then we will

calculate the velocity and attenuation of plane waves to compare them to our experimental measurements

of ultrasound waves already available from the scanned samples. Because Elasticity is a strong predictor

of the strength of bone, the elastic constants will be derived from both experimental and numerical

approaches, and compared to determine its correlation coefficient and the role of microstructure on their

mechanical properties.

In conclusion, ultrasound wave propagation can be very useful to Asses diseases like osteoporosis or

aging, which demonstrate themselves by bone resorption and weakening. Ultra sound Wave propagation

can also be useful for monitoring bone regeneration after fracture, bone resorption in the area of implant

and mechanical evaluation of the bone implant association.

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Dr. Luis Cardoso

Yuliya Vengrenyuk*,

Mitchell Schaffler

LSAMP

National Space Biomedical Research Institute through NASA NCC 9-58

REFERENCES

1] Langton et al. Technol.Health Care, 7, pp. 319-30, 1999

2] Frost et al. J.Bone Miner.Res., 16, pp. 406-16., 2001

3] Cardoso et al. J.Bone Miner.Res., 18, pp. 1803-1812, Oct. 2003

4] Cardoso, PhD Thesis, U Paris. 2003

5] Biot, J.Acoust.Soc.Am., 28, 168-178, 1956

6] Biot, J.Acoust.Soc.Am., 28, pp. 179-191, 1956

7] Biot, J.Acoust.Soc.Am.,34, pp. 1254-1264, 1962.

8] Li et al. J Bone Miner Res, 20, pp.117-26, 2005. J. L

9] Williams et al, ‘‘Elastic constants of composites formed from PMMA bone cement and anisotropic
bovine tibial cancellous bone,’’ J. Biomech. 22, 673–682 ~1989