Ultrasound and Bone Disease: A Systematic Review

Sara Behforootan1*, Oliver Boughton1, Ulrich Hansen2, Justin Cobb1, Peter Huthwaite2 and Richard Abel1

1Department of Surgery and Cancer, MSK Lab, Imperial College London, Sir Michael Uren Hub, White City
Campus, UK
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, UK

^*Correspondance to: Sara Behforootan, 

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Abstract:

Over the last five decades bone ultrasound has been extensively used to give new understanding into
bone. However, the actual contribution of ultrasound to bone disease treatment in clinical practice
remains relatively limited.
This review aims to resolve why ultrasound has not been established as a clinical tool to diagnose
or treat bone disease. An overview of published ultrasonic techniques used on bone at key sites in
osteoporosis and osteoarthritis is provided to investigate applicability of ultrasound in a clinical
setting.
An electronic literature search was conducted via MEDLINE and Embase to identify publications
utilizing bone ultrasound. After removing duplicates, abstracts of 2,951 articles were screened, and
64 articles that met the inclusion criteria, based on abstracts, were selected. Full text of all selected
articles was evaluated based on inclusion criteria and ten articles met the inclusion criteria.
Even though a substantial amount of research has been conducted in the field of bone ultrasound,
these techniques are not frequently used in clinical practice. The published literature comprises
an inclusive toolbox for future work towards clinically applicable ultrasonic techniques, yet no
integrated ultrasonic technique exists that could be directly utilized in the clinic at all bone disease
critical sites. The ultimate challenge for the implementation of ultrasonic techniques on the key sites
is to adapt the current techniques to in-vivo measurements and to ensure that they can produce
reliable results for different population groups. Accordingly, this highlights the necessity of extensive
validation of each specific integrated system and rigorous clinical trials.

Keywords:

Ultrasound; Bone; Osteoporosis; Osteoarthritic; Diagnosis; Treatment

Cite the Article:

Behforootan S, Boughton O, Hansen U, Cobb J, Huthwaite P, Abel R. Ultrasound and Bone Disease: A Systematic Review. World J Surg Surgical Res. 2021; 4: 1296..