Ultrasound modulated optical tomography assessment of osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to bone fragility and an increased susceptibility to fracture of the hip, spine and wrist. It is affecting tens of millions of Americans and costs tens of billions each year. Current screening methods for diagnosing osteoporosis have limitations, side effects and uncertainties.

We investigate and research the feasibility of using ultrasound modulated optical tomography (UMOT) to detect and assess osteoporosis. From Monte Carlo simulations of laser light passing through a human forearm, we find that the light reflectance away from the impact point decays exponentially, and the rates are different for normal and osteoporotic bones. We set up experiments capturing laser reflectance using a CCD camera from phantoms made with raw chicken bones and gelatin. Ultrasound modulation seems to reduce signal noise significantly. We analyze our results using R-squared coefficient, sum squared error and root mean squared error.