Evaluation of ultrasound transmission velocity and 3-dimensional radiology in different bone types for dental implantology: a comparative ex vivo study

Objective. To evaluate ultrasound transmission velocity (UTV) for assessment of mechanical bone quality, an ex vivo comparison of different bone types measured with UTV, 2-dimensional (2D) histomorphometry and with 3-dimensional (3D) radiology (cone-beam computerized tomography [CBCT], computerized microtomography [mu CT]) was conducted. Study Design. Clinical cortical, cancellous, and mixed bone (each n = 6) was measured via UTV (m/s), CBCT (white pixel/black pixel ratio [WP/BP]), mu CT (bone volume/total volume [mu BV/TV]), and histomorphometry (bone volume/total volume [hBV/TV]). UTV values were correlated with 2D-histomorphometry and 3D-radiologic results. Results. For the cortical, cancellous, and mixed bone samples, respectively, UTV values were 1,945.17, 1,266.9, and 1472.2 m/s, WP/BP quotients were 0.96, 0.15, and 0.33, mu BV/TV quotients were 0.94, 0.2, and 0.47, and hBV/TV quotients were 0.96, 0.24 and 0.39. Significant correlations between UTV and the other methods were seen (P < .0001). Conclusions. Similar to the other methods, UTV is able to discriminate between different bone types ex vivo.