Juvenile bone growth is well described (physiological and anatomical) but there are still lacks of knowledge on intrinsic material properties. Our group has already published, on different samples, several studies on the assessment of intrinsic material properties of juvenile bone compared to material properties of adult bone. The purpose of this study was finally to combine different experimental modalities available (ultrasonic measurement, micro-Computed Tomography analysis, mechanical compression tests and biochemical measurements) applied on small cubic bone samples in order to gain insight into the multiparametric evaluation of bone quality. Differences were found between juvenile and adult groups in term of architectural parameters (Porosity Separation), Tissue Mineral Density (TMD), diagonal stiffness coefficients (C₃₃, C_44, C_55, C₆₆) and ratio between immature and mature cross-links (CX). Diagonal stiffness coefficients are more representative of the microstructural and biochemical parameters of child bone than of adult bone. We also found that compression modulus E was highly correlated with several microstructure parameters and CX in children group while it was not at all correlated in the adult group. Similar results were found for the CX which was linked to several microstructure parameters (TMD and E) only in the juvenile group. To our knowledge, this is the first time that, on a same sample, ultrasonic measurements have been combined with the assessment of mechanical and biochemical properties. It appears that ultrasonic measurements can provide relevant indicators of child bone quality (microstructural and biochemical parameters) which is promising for clinical application since, B-mode ultrasound is the preferred first-line modality over other more constraining imaging modalities (radiation, parent–child accessibility and access to the patient's bed) for pediatric patients.

幼年骨骼的生长得到了很好的描述（生理和解剖），但仍然缺乏关于内在材料特性的知识。我们小组已经针对不同的样本发表了几项关于评估幼骨内在材料特性与成人骨材料特性相比的研究。本研究的最终目的是结合适用于小立方骨样品的不同实验方式（超声波测量、微计算机断层扫描分析、机械压缩测试和生化测量），以深入了解骨质量的多参数评估。在建筑参数（孔隙度分离）、组织矿物密度（TMD）、对角刚度系数（C.₃₃、C _44、 C _55、 C ₆₆) 以及未成熟和成熟交联 (CX) 之间的比率。对角刚度系数比成人骨更能代表儿童骨的微观结构和生化参数。我们还发现，压缩模量 E 与儿童组的几个微观结构参数和 CX 高度相关，而在成人组中则完全不相关。仅在幼年组中，CX 与几个微观结构参数（TMD 和 E）相关联，也发现了类似的结果。据我们所知，这是第一次在同一样品上将超声波测量与机械和生化特性的评估相结合。