Interrelation between external oscillatory muscle coupling amplitude and in vivo intramedullary pressure related bone adaptation.

Interstitial bone fluid flow (IBFF) is suggested as a communication medium that bridges external physical signals and internal cellular activities in the bone, which thus regulates bone remodeling. Intramedullary pressure (ImP) is one main regulatory factor of IBFF and bone adaptation related mechanotransduction. Our group has recently observed that dynamic hydraulic stimulation (DHS), as an external oscillatory muscle coupling, was able to induce local ImP with minimal bone strain as well as to mitigate disuse bone loss.

Prediction of trabecular bone qualitative properties using scanning quantitative ultrasound.

Microgravity induced bone loss represents a critical health problem in astronauts, particularly occurred in weight-supporting skeleton, which leads to osteopenia and increase of fracture risk. Lack of suitable evaluation modality makes it difficult for monitoring skeletal status in long term space mission and increases potential risk of complication. Such disuse osteopenia and osteoporosis compromise trabecular bone density, and architectural and mechanical properties.

Dynamic hydraulic fluid stimulation regulated intramedullary pressure.

Physical signals within the bone, i.e. generated from mechanical loading, have the potential to initiate skeletal adaptation.

Reversal of the detrimental effects of simulated microgravity on human osteoblasts by modified low intensity pulsed ultrasound.

Microgravity (MG) is known to induce bone loss in astronauts during long-duration space mission because of a lack of sufficient mechanical stimulation under MG. It has been demonstrated that mechanical signals are essential for maintaining cell viability and motility, and they possibly serve as a countermeasure to the catabolic effects of MG. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of high-frequency acoustic wave signals on osteoblasts in a simulated microgravity (SMG) environment (created using 1-D clinostat bioreactor) using a modified low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (mLIPUS).

Frequency specific ultrasound attenuation is sensitive to trabecular bone structure.

This study investigated the efficacy of frequency modulated ultrasound attenuation in the assessment of the trabecular structural properties. Four frequency modulated signals were created to represent four frequency bands centered at 500 kHz, 900 kHz, 1.3 MHz and 1.

Dynamic hydraulic flow stimulation on mitigation of trabecular bone loss in a rat functional disuse model.

Bone fluid flow (BFF) has been demonstrated as a critical regulator in mechanotransductive signaling and bone adaptation. Intramedullary pressure (ImP) and matrix strain have been identified as potential generators to regulate BFF. To elevate in vivo oscillatory BFF using ImP, a dynamic hydraulic stimulation (DHS) approach was developed.

Mechanobiological modulation of cytoskeleton and calcium influx in osteoblastic cells by short-term focused acoustic radiation force.

Mechanotransduction has demonstrated potential for regulating tissue adaptation in vivo and cellular activities in vitro. It is well documented that ultrasound can produce a wide variety of biological effects in biological systems. For example, pulsed ultrasound can be used to noninvasively accelerate the rate of bone fracture healing.

Prediction of trabecular bone principal structural orientation using quantitative ultrasound scanning.

Bone has the ability to adapt its structure in response to the mechanical environment as defined as Wolff's Law. The alignment of trabecular structure is intended to adapt to the particular mechanical milieu applied to it. Due to the absence of normal mechanical loading, it will be extremely important to assess the anisotropic deterioration of bone during the extreme conditions, i.

Effects of phase cancellation and receiver aperture size on broadband ultrasonic attenuation for trabecular bone in vitro.

Phase cancellation in ultrasound due to large receiver size has been proposed as a contributing factor to the inaccuracy of estimating broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), which is used to characterize bone quality. Transducers with aperture size ranging from 2 to 5 mm have been used in previous attempts to study the effect of phase cancellation. However, these receivers themselves are susceptible to phase cancellation because aperture size is close to one center wavelength (about 3 mm at 500 KHz in water).

Evaluation of a pulsed phase-locked loop system for noninvasive tracking of bone deformation under loading with finite element and strain analysis.

Ultrasound has been widely used to nondestructively evaluate various materials, including biological tissues. Quantitative ultrasound has been used to assess bone quality and fracture risk. A pulsed phase-locked loop (PPLL) method has been proven for very sensitive tracking of ultrasound time-of-flight (TOF) changes.

Low-Intensity Amplitude Modulated Ultrasound Increases Osteoblastic Mineralization.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of pulsed amplitude modulated ultrasound (pAMUS) on the level of mineralization in osteoblast cell in comparison to cells stimulated with low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS). To make the ultrasound effects more enhanced and targeted at region of interest, this study uses a novel approach of applying pulsed amplitude modulated ultrasound to osteoblast cells. The pAMUS signal was generated using two signal generators.

Extension of the distributed point source method for ultrasonic field modeling.

The distributed point source method (DPSM) was recently proposed for ultrasonic field modeling and other applications. This method uses distributed point sources, placed slightly behind transducer surface, to model the ultrasound field. The acoustic strength of each point source is obtained through matrix inversion that requires the number of target points on the transducer surface to be equal to the number of point sources.

A new algorithm for spatial impulse response of rectangular planar transducers.

Previous solutions for spatial impulse responses of rectangular planar transducers require either approximations or complex geometrical considerations. This paper describes a new, simplified and exact solution using only trigonometric functions and simple set operations. This solution, which can be numerically implemented with a straightforward algorithm, is an exact implementation of the Rayleigh integral without any far field or paraxial approximation.

High frame rate imaging system for limited diffraction array beam imaging with square-wave aperture weightings.

A general-purpose high frame rate (HFR) medical imaging system has been developed. This system has 128 independent linear transmitters, each of which is capable of producing an arbitrary broadband (about 0.05-10 MHz) waveform of up to +/- 144 V peak voltage on a 75-ohm resistive load using a 12-bit/40-MHz digital-to-analog converter.

Extended high-frame rate imaging method with limited-diffraction beams.

Fast three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound imaging is a technical challenge. Previously, a high-frame rate (HFR) imaging theory was developed in which a pulsed plane wave was used in transmission, and limited-diffraction array beam weightings were applied to received echo signals to produce a spatial Fourier transform of object function for 3-D image reconstruction. In this paper, the theory is extended to include explicitly various transmission schemes such as multiple limited-diffraction array beams and steered plane waves.

Field computation for two-dimensional array transducers with limited diffraction array beams.

A method is developed for calculating fields produced with a two-dimensional (2D) array transducer. This method decomposes an arbitrary 2D aperture weighting function into a set of limited diffraction array beams. Using the analytical expressions of limited diffraction beams, arbitrary continuous wave (cw) or pulse wave (pw) fields of 2D arrays can be obtained with a simple superposition of these beams.

Theory and experiment of Fourier-Bessel field calculation and tuning of a pulsed wave annular array.

A one-dimensional (1D) Fourier-Bessel series method for computing and tuning (beamforming) the linear lossless field of flat pulsed wave annular arrays is developed and supported with both numerical simulation and experimental verification. The technique represents a new method for modeling and tuning the propagated field by linking the quantized surface pressure profile to a known set of limited diffraction Bessel beams propagating into the medium. This enables derivation of an analytic expression for the field at any point in space and time in terms of the transducer surface pressure profile.

Fourier-Bessel field calculation and tuning of a CW annular array.

A 1-D Fourier-Bessel series method for computing and tuning the linear lossless field of flat continuous wave (CW) annular arrays is given and discussed with both numerical simulation and experimental verification. The technique provides a new method for modelling and manipulating the propagated field by linking the quantized surface pressure profile to a set of limited diffraction Bessel beams propagating into the medium. In the limit, these become a known set of nondiffracting Bessel beams satisfying the lossless linear wave equation, which allow us to derive a linear matrix formulation for the field in terms of the ring pressures on the transducer surface.