An Ultrasonic Backscatter Instrument for Cancellous Bone Evaluation in Neonates  

作　　者：Chengcheng Liu Rong Zhang Ying Li Feng Xu Dean Ta Weiqi Wang 

机构地区：[1]Department of Electronic Engineering, Fudan University [2]Department of Neonatology, Children’s Hospital of Fudan University [3]Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) of Shanghai

出　　处：《Engineering》2015年第3期336-343,共8页工程（英文）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11174060, 11327405, and 11504057);the Science and Technology Support Program of Shanghai (13441901900);the PhD Programs Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (20130071110020);the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M571490)

摘　　要：Ultrasonic backscatter technique has shown promise as a noninvasive cancellous bone assessment tool. A novel ultrasonic backscatter bone diagnostic （UBBD） instrument and an in vivo application for neonatal bone evaluation are introduced in this study. The UBBD provides several advantages, including noninvasiveness, non- ionizing radiation, portability, and simplicity. In this study, the backscatter signal could be measured within 5 s using the UBBD. Ultrasonic backscatter measurements were performed on 467 neonates （268 males and 199 females） at the left calcaneus. The backscatter signal was measured at a central frequency of 3.5 MHz. The delay （-/-1） and duration （7-2） of the backscatter signal of interest （SOl） were varied, and the apparent integrated backscatter （AIB）, frequency slope of apparent backscatter （FSAB）, zero frequency intercept of apparent backscatter （FIAB）, and spectral centroid shift （SCS） were calculated. The results showed that the SOl selection had a direct influence on cancellous bone evaluation. The AIB and FIAB were positively correlated with the gestational age （｜R｜ up to 0.45, P 〈 0.001） when -/-1 was short （〈 8 μS）, while negative correlations （｜R｜ up to 0.56, P 〈 0.001） were commonly observed for T1 〉 10 IJS. Moderate positive correlations （IRI up to 0.45, P 〈 0.001） were observed for FSAB and SCS with gestational age when 71 was long （〉 10 μs）. The 7-2 mainly introduced fluctuations in the observed correlation coefficients. The moderate correlations observed with UBBD demonstrate the feasibility of using the backscatter signal to evaluate neonatal bone status. This study also proposes an explicit standard for in vivo SOl selection and neonatal cancellous bone assessment.Ultrasonic backscatter technique has shown promise as a noninvasive cancellous bone assessment tool. A novel ultrasonic backscatter bone diagnostic(UBBD) instrument and an in vivo application for neonatal bone evaluation are introduced in this study. The UBBD provides several advantages, including noninvasiveness, nonionizing radiation, portability, and simplicity. In this study, the backscatter signal could be measured within 5 s using the UBBD. Ultrasonic backscatter measurements were performed on 467 neonates(268 males and 199 females) at the left calcaneus. The backscatter signal was measured at a central frequency of 3.5 MHz. The delay(T_1) and duration(T_2) of the backscatter signal of interest(SOI) were varied, and the apparent integrated backscatter(AIB), frequency slope of apparent backscatter(FSAB), zero frequency intercept of apparent backscatter(FIAB), and spectral centroid shift(SCS) were calculated. The results showed that the SOI selection had a direct influence on cancellous bone evaluation. The AIB and FIAB were positively correlated with the gestational age(|R| up to 0.45, P < 0.001) when T_1 was short(< 8 μs), while negative correlations(|R| up to 0.56, P < 0.001) were commonly observed for T_1 > 10 μs. Moderate positive correlations(|R| up to 0.45, P < 0.001) were observed for FSAB and SCS with gestational age when T_1 was long(> 10 μs). The T_2 mainly introduced fluctuations in the observed correlation coefflcients. The moderate correlations observed with UBBD demonstrate the feasibility of using the backscatter signal to evaluate neonatal bone status. This study also proposes an explicit standard for in vivo SOI selection and neonatal cancellous bone assessment.

关 键 词：ultrasonic backscatter cancellous bone evaluation signal of interest （SOI） backscatter instrument neonatal bone status 

分 类 号：TN911.6[电子电信—通信与信息系统] TH777[电子电信—信息与通信工程]