[1]First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Department of Medicine,Zhengzhou,China
[2]Fudan University, Department of Electronics Engineering,Shanghai,China
[3]University of Alberta, Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging,Edmonton,Canada
Mean scatterer spacing (MSS) has been used by many researchers to characterize the quasi-periodic tissue microstructures and mean trabecular bone spacing (MTBS) is an important parameter to diagnose osteoporosis. This paper proposed a new technique based on simplified inverse filter tracking (SIFT) algorithm to estimate MTBS. Both simulated backscattered signals and ultrasonic backscattered signals from bovine cancellous bone in vitro were processed. The results indicated that SIFT algorithm minimized the influence of measurement system and transmission medium property. It also provided a more reliable estimation in the presence of strong diffuse scatterers and noise. Thus the SIFT method is expected to be useful for providing information about the quasi-periodic tissue microstructures.