Patent ID: 6364837
Filing Date: 2002-04-02
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
An ultrasonic instrument for measurement of the human os calcis in vivo comprising:a first ultrasonic transducer and a second ultrasonic transducer; a support holding the first and second ultrasonic transducers in opposition about a volume sized to receive a human heel, the support further allowing adjustment of the separation distance between the first and second ultrasonic transducers; a restraining mechanism communicating with the support to hold the first and second ultrasonic transducers at a contact separation contacting a human heel placed within the volume; signal-processing circuitry electrically connected to the first and second ultrasonic transducers to provide an ultrasonic signal to the first ultrasonic transducer and to receive a corresponding attenuated ultrasonic signal from the second ultrasonic transducer at the contact separation; and a microprocessor receiving a digitized form of the received ultrasonic signal from the signal processing circuitry and executing a stored program to compute a measure of bone quality based on attenuation of ultrasound by the heel.