Patent ID: 7727152

Claim:
A system for determining at least one bone property of a bone sample at least one point, the system comprising: a) a transmitting ultrasonic transducer and a receiving ultrasonic transducer, both transducers being confocal transducers, the transducers configured to receive the bone sample therebetween such that the confocal point of the transducers are located at the at least one point in the bone sample; and b) a processor configured to initiate an ultrasonic signal from the transmitting transducers that is transmitted through the at least one point of the bone sample when positioned between the transducers and received by the receiving transducer, the processor receiving a signal reflecting one or more measures of the received ultrasonic signal, the processor determining at least one ultrasonic parameter for the at least one point of the bone sample based upon the transmitted and received ultrasonic confocal signals, the processor further determining the at least one bone property at the point of the sample based upon the at least one ultrasonic parameter.