Probing long bones using ultrasound with machine learning: signal processing, simulation, inversion, and pattern recognition

使用超声波和机器学习探测长骨：信号处理、模拟、反演和模式识别

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-06581
• 负责人: Le, Lawrence
• 金额: $ 2.48万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=738983
• 关键词: Probing; long; bones; using; ultrasound

Osteoporosis is one of the most common skeletal disorders characterized by reduced bone mass, micro-structural deterioration, and cortical bone thinning, leading to bone fragility and fracture risks. The disease can occur in either gender at any age, but women after menopause are more susceptible to the disease. The bone loss occurs silently without any symptoms until the bone is weak to break. Osteoporosis causes more than 8.9 million fractures annually worldwide and remains one of the most prevalent undiagnosed disease. Most patients, who experience osteoporotic fractures, lose their quality of life and especially the will to move freely. Therefore, preventing, being able to diagnose accurately, and monitoring osteoporosis and fragility fractures are of supreme importance. Currently, bone integrity is mainly assessed by measuring bone mineral density (BMD) using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). However, clinical studies indicated that BMD values measured in normal and osteoporotic bones showed considerable overlap; therefore, BMD does not provide sufficient information for accurate diagnosis of osteoporosis because X-ray based measurements fail to consider bone structural and mechanical properties. Among all methods, quantitative guided wave ultrasound (QGWU) has demonstrated its promising potential in the ex-vivo and in-vivo assessment of bone integrity. An advantage of QGWU over the gold-standard DXA is its ability to provide measurements of mechanical properties, relevant to bone strength. The cortex, which is sandwiched between soft tissue and marrow, acts as an ultrasound waveguide. The ultrasound trapped within the cortex reverberates and reinforces into a "bundle" of energetic ultrasonic guided waves (UGW) energy to travel along the long bone. UGW are sensitive to material thickness and elastic properties and thus, have the potential to probe the geometric and material properties of the cortex of long bones. The proposal offers an opportunity to develop innovative and smart ultrasound-based imaging technologies to discriminate healthy and osteoporotic populations and to diagnose and monitor the progression of bone diseases, which will improve patient care. The work here provides an excellent environment to train highly qualified personnel. There is a strong emphasis on cross-fertilization of several disciplines (medical physics, biomedical engineering, geophysics, computer science) to solve a medical-relevant problem. The findings of this research plan will lead to new and smart methodologies and technology development for ultrasound characterization of skeleton competence and integrity. Software development and design of transducer array to better measure cortical thinning and bone stiffness relevant to bone strength will lead to possible opportunities for patent and technology commercialization using ultrasonic guided waves.

骨质疏松症是最常见的骨骼疾病之一，其特征是骨量减少，微结构恶化，皮质骨质变薄，导致骨脆性和骨折风险。这种疾病可以在任何年龄发生在任何性别，但绝经后的女性更容易患上这种疾病。骨丢失悄无声息地发生，没有任何症状，直到骨头虚弱到无法折断。骨质疏松症每年导致全球890多万人骨折，仍然是最常见的未诊断疾病之一。大多数经历了骨质疏松性骨折的患者都失去了生活质量，特别是失去了自由活动的意愿。因此，预防、准确诊断、监测骨质疏松和脆性骨折至关重要。目前，骨完整性的评价主要通过双能X线骨密度仪(DXA)测量骨密度(BMD)来进行。然而，临床研究表明，在正常骨和骨质疏松骨中测量的骨密度值有相当大的重叠；因此，由于基于X射线的测量没有考虑骨的结构和力学特性，骨密度不能为准确诊断骨质疏松症提供足够的信息。在所有的方法中，定量导波超声(QGWU)在体内外评价骨完整性方面显示出很大的潜力。与黄金标准的DXA相比，QGWU的一个优势是它能够提供与骨强度相关的机械性能测量。皮质夹在软组织和骨髓之间，起着超声波的作用。被困在大脑皮层内的超声波会产生反射，并增强为一束高能的超声导波(UGW)能量，从而沿着长骨传播。UGW对材料厚度和弹性性质很敏感，因此有可能探索长骨皮质的几何和材料性质。该提案提供了一个机会，以开发创新和智能的基于超声波的成像技术，以区分健康和骨质疏松人群，并诊断和监测骨骼疾病的进展，这将改善患者护理。这里的工作为培养高素质人才提供了良好的环境。有几个学科(医学物理、生物医学工程、地球物理、计算机科学)的交叉培养是非常重要的，以解决与医学相关的问题。这项研究计划的发现将导致超声表征骨骼能力和完整性的新的和智能的方法和技术开发。更好地测量与骨强度相关的皮质变薄和骨硬度的换能器阵列的软件开发和设计将为使用超声波导波的专利和技术商业化带来可能的机会。