Background: The purpose of this study was to understand the acoustic properties of vertebral cancellous bone by combining micro-CT scan data and use this as the theoretical basis for ultrasonic navigation with posterior pedicle screw fixation during spinal fusion surgery. Results: Two bovine spinal cancellous bone blocks and two human spinal allograft bone blocks simulated the condition of cancellous bone in the pedicle screw channel. Transmission experiments were performed on them, including amplitude, attenuation and sound velocity tests. Four unfocused wideband ultrasonic transducers were used for the detection, with the central frequencies of 2.2MHz, 2.5MHz, 3MHz and 12MHz respectively. The results were favorable and stable. The amplitude of the signal decreased with depth penetration (p< 0.05). With the increase of frequency, sound attenuation and sound velocity increased (p< 0.05).Conclusions: In summary, the conclusions lay a theoretical foundation for the ultrasonic navigation system. However, how ultrasound navigation will facilitate pedicle screw insertion in spine surgery remains to be determined. Therefore, ultrasonic guided pedicle screw implantation is effective and promising in theory.
Background: Ultrasound has been proved to be a promising alternative spine navigation method. High frequency ultrasound transducer has the advantage of high resolution on surface structure, but imaging at close range is difficult, especially in narrow space of the pilot-hole in pedicle.Methods: Twenty cortical bone chips were made and different size of hole with diameter of 1mm, 2mm, 3mm or 5mm was randomly carved in each bone chip. A tailored 30MHz high frequency transducer scanned bone samples at the distance of 4mm, 3mm, 2mm and 1mm. Successive transmission ringingeffect elimination, Hilbert transform and Gray-scale mapping method were utilized to process and optimize attained original images.Results: At the distance of 4mm, 3mm, 2mm and 1mm, the holes with diameter of 5mm, 3mm and 2mm could be discerned. At the distance of 1mm, only the holes with 5mm and 3mm could be clearly distinguished and the 2mm hole appeared obscure. The holes with diameter of 1mm could not be detected at any distance. The holes with diameter of 2mm were able to be detected at the distance of 1mm.Conclusions: This study indicated that the high frequency transducer had limited imaging capability at close range on the bony surface. These results lay a foundation for further developing a novel ultrasound-based spinal pedicle interior imaging and navigation system.
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