The non-linear relationship between BUA and porosity in cancellous bone

There is growing interest in assessing the clinical value of ultrasound in the prediction and management of osteoporosis. However, the mechanism of ultrasound propagation in cancellous bone is not well understood. The Blot theory is one approach to modelling the interaction of sound waves with cancellous structure, and porosity is one of its input parameters. In this paper we report the relationship between broadband ultrasonic attenuation (BUA) corrected for specimen thickness (nBUA) and porosity in a porous Perspex cancellous bone mimic, a stereolithography cancellous bone mimic and in natural human and bovine tissue. nBUA and porosity have a non-linear parabolic relationship. The maximum nBUA value (nBUA(max)) occurs at approximately 30% porosity in the Perspex mimic, approximately 70% in the stereolithography mimic and approximately 75% in natural cancellous bone. We discuss the effect of structure on the form of the nBUA-porosity relationship.