APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ACOUSTIC ANALYSIS OF BONE USING OPTIMIZED FUNCTIONS OF SPECTRAL AND TEMPORAL SIGNAL COMPONENTS

摘要

An apparatus and method determine externally in a vertebrate subject an inde x of porosity and non-connectivity of a bone. A preferred embodiment has first and second transducers and a mounting arrangement for mounting the transduce rs in spaced relationship with respect to the bone. A signal generator, in communication with the first transducer, causes the first transducer to produce acoustic signals, having energy distributed over a frequency range, that are propagated into the subject and received by the second transducer along a path that includes the bone. Finally, the embodiment has a signal processor, in communication with the second transducer, for providing a measurement that is a function of at least one of spectral or temporal components of the signal received by the second transducer. The transducers act like a point source and point receiver.