Funding outcome

Osteoporosis is one of the most common skeletal disorders characterized by reduced bone mass, deterioration of bone microstructures, and cortical thinning, leading to high fracture risks. The disease can occur in both men and women at any age, but it is most common in women elders. They alike begin to lose bone mass in their mid-30s and as they approach menopause, the bone loss rate raises to over 2-3% per year. The bone loss occurs steadily without any symptoms until one has fracture. Osteoporosis still remains one of the most prevalent undiagnosed diseases. In Canada, 15.8% of women have osteoporosis and some of them have been experiencing a lower-than-average quality of life due to fractures. The cost to the Canadian health care system to treat osteoporosis and the related fractures was estimated to be over $2.3 billion as of 2010. Therefore, preventing, being able to diagnose accurately, and monitoring osteoporosis and fragility fractures are of supreme importance. Currently, bone quality is mainly assessed by measuring bone mineral density (BMD) using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. However, BMD does not provide sufficient information for accurate diagnosis of osteoporosis because bone strength does not only depend on bone mass but also other structural and mechanical properties. Ultrasound is an indispensable imaging modality to monitor soft tissues in diagnostic radiology. The use of ultrasound to study hard tissues is not common but in recent years modest interest has been generated to use ultrasound to study bones. Compared to X-ray based diagnostic imaging modalities, ultrasound is cost effective and does not involve the use of ionizing radiation, which is beneficial to the patients. Therefore, we anticipate remarkable economic and social benefits for the treatment of osteoporosis patients by using quantitative ultrasound. My research project is to develop innovative ultrasound-based imaging technologies to assess cortex thinning in osteoporosis patients. At a later stage of my study, the developed techniques will be translated into clinical practice and applied to subjects with osteoporosis and/or bone fractures. This work will directly improve the osteoporosis diagnosis by foster further development steps for a successful introduction of quantitative ultrasound as a diagnostic tool.