Bone assessment apparatus
AssigneeAloka Co., Ltd.
InventorsNaoki Ohtomo, Shigeo Kimura
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for providing assessment indices related to bone strength which are useful in predicting the risk of bone fracture. The apparatus measures the mineral density of bone (BMD) by means of X-rays, while the propagation speed of sound V in the bone and bone thickness d are measured by means of ultrasonic waves. The bone mineral content per unit volume, i.e. the bone volume density .rho., is computed from the bone mineral density (BMD) and the thickness of the bone. An assessment value E is then computed based on V and .rho..
Claims15
A bone assessment apparatus comprising:
- means for measuring the propagation speed of sound in bone by passing ultrasonic waves through a test part of a subject's bone,
- means for measuring bone volume density by passing an X-ray beam of X-ray through said test part, and
- means for computing an assessment index for the bone based on said measured sound propagation speed and said measured bone volume density.
A bone assessment apparatus for computing bone assessment indices using ultrasonic waves and X-rays, comprising:
- a water tank having a region for receiving a subject,
- a pair of ultrasonic transducers, one transducer being disposed on each side of said region inside said water tank,
- an X-ray generator and X-ray detector, one of these units being disposed on each side of said region outside said water tank, and
- a pair of immersible bodies, one immersible body being disposed on each side of said region in a path of X-rays inside said water tank, wherein said immersible bodies contain at least one of a substance having a lower X-ray attenuation coefficient than water and a vacuum within a sealed interior, and
- means for computing an assessment index based on signals produced by said ultrasonic transducers and said X-ray detector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.