The goal of this study was to evaluate whether ultrasonic velocities in cortical bone can be considered as a proxy for mechanical quality of cortical bone tissue reflected by porosity and compression strength. Micro-computed tomography, compression mechanical testing and resonant ultrasound spectroscopy were used to assess, respectively, porosity, strength and velocity of bulk waves of both shear and longitudinal polarisations propagating along and perpendicular to osteons, in 92 cortical bone specimens from tibia and femur of elderly human donors. All velocities were significantly associated with strength (r = 0.65–0.83) and porosity (r = –0.64 to –0.77). Roughly, according to linear regression models, a decrease in velocity of 100 m/s corresponded to a loss of 20 MPa in strength (which is approximately 10% of the largest strength value) and to an increase in porosity of 5%. These results provide a rationale for the in vivo measurement of one or several velocities for the diagnosis of bone fragility.

本研究的目的是评估皮质骨中的超声速度是否可以被视为由孔隙率和压缩强度反映的皮质骨组织机械质量的代表。在来自胫骨和股骨的 92 个皮质骨标本中，使用显微计算机断层扫描、压缩力学测试和共振超声光谱分别评估了沿着和垂直于骨单元传播的剪切和纵向极化的体波的孔隙率、强度和速度。老年人捐赠者。所有速度都与强度 ( r  = 0.65–0.83) 和孔隙度 ( r = –0.64 到 –0.77）。粗略地说，根据线性回归模型，速度降低 100 m/s 对应于强度损失 20 MPa（大约是最大强度值的 10%）和孔隙率增加 5%。这些结果为用于诊断骨脆性的一种或几种速度的体内测量提供了基本原理。