b'12 Partner News Summer 2023AcademicIs faster imagingmulti-frequency ultrasound bone assessment (MUBA) method. MUBA combines multiple ultrasound measurements performed at better for diagnosingdifferent frequencies to accurately quantify bone thickness and porosity. For example, instead of making a single ultrasound measurement at 5 MHz, MUBA makes tens osteoporosis?of measurements at 2, 3, , 10 MHz. Before combining these measurements it uses Artificial Intelligence to check if the recorded ultrasound data is suitable for MUBA. If not, a new set of measurements are performed after a few seconds and the tiny movements By London Southbank Universityof the handheld ultrasound probe is sufficient to ensure that a different measurement is done instead of repeating the same.Tissue motion or probe motion is good if you want to make a new independent measurement. However, motion within a set of measurements-to-be-combined only reduces the quality due to decorrelation of consecutive measurements. Therefore, from an engineering perspective MUBA is challenging because it requires multiple transmissions and fast data capture to minimize the effects of motion. For this reason, MUBA is being implemented using the high-frame rate ultrasound hardware technology called UARP-II in collaboration with Professor Steven Freear from the University of Leeds. This high-frame rate ultrasound system can be programmed to record tens of thousands of frames in a second (most clinical ultrasound imaging systems work around 50 frames per second). Then, MUBA can perform a hundred measurement in less than 10 milliseconds and can process and combine them to generate a single image with much superior image quality. Illustration of multi-frequency ultrasound bone assessment MUBAWhen fully developed, MUBA would In the UK, more people die from osteoporosisthe construction materials and ignoring theprovide a safe and accurate osteoporosis related fragility fractures than from diabetes.architecture of the bridge.and bone fragility assessment. In Osteoporosis gradually weakens bones andcomparison to the DXA, the proposed usually stays unnoticed until they break.The research team lead by Dr Sevan Harputtechnology would have a shorter scanning Almost 3.7 million people in the UK haveat London South Bank University (LSBU)time (under one minute instead of 10-30 osteoporosis that results in over 500,000is developing an accurate bone micro- minutes), doctors would not need to leave fractures every year, costing the NHS anarchitecture assessment method thatthe room or stay away from patients estimated 5 billion. Current methods foris aiming to replace the DXA. Instead ofbecause of radiation and patients with detecting osteoporosis rely on bone mineralevaluating bone mineral density, this newmetal implants could be scanned without density measurements.method is being designed to measure boneany concerns. In addition to direct benefit thickness and porosity, which is a betterto patients, MUBA could provide significant The NHS uses DXA scanners for theseindicator of bone loss and fragility accordingcost-savings for the NHS by replacing large density measurements that involve radiationto recent clinical studies.and costly imaging facilities, reducing the and have long waiting times (averagescanning time and improving the treatment waiting time for DXA is 42 days, which isHowever, the porosity and thickness canefficacy by radiation-free frequent 22nd out of EU27+2 countries). In additionvary vastly from person to person and ascreening. Most importantly MUBA would to this, DXA scans can be highly inaccuratesingle measurement might not accuratelyenable early detection of osteoporosis, because it only looks at the density ofquantify bone parameters. To be able towhich will decrease the prospective the bone. This is similar to assessing thelook into bone micro-architecture with highfracture risk and lead to better, longer-strength of a bridge based on the density ofaccuracy, the LSBU team is implementing alived lives and healthy aging.'