Optical biopsy of bone tissue: a step toward the diagnosis of bone pathologies.

In vivo absorption and reduced scattering spectra of the human calcaneous from 650 to 1000 nm were assessed using a laboratory system for time-resolved transmittance spectroscopy. Measurements were performed on the calcaneous of seven female volunteers ranging from 26 to 82 years of age. The analysis of the absorption spectra, using a linear combination of the key tissue absorbers (bone mineral, water, lipids, oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin), revealed a general decrease in bone mineral content and an increase in lipids with age, which is in agreement with the aging transformations that occur in bone tissues. The scattering spectra were less effective in detecting such changes in older subjects, showing only a minor decrease in the coefficient for these subjects. The capability to noninvasively quantify bone tissue composition suggests a possible use of optical biopsy for the diagnosis of bone pathologies such as osteoporosis, which are characterized by a progressive reduction and transformation of the mineral in the bone matrix.

[1]  O. Johnell,et al.  Meta-analysis of how well measures of bone mineral density predict occurrence of osteoporotic fractures , 1996 .

[2]  Alessandro Torricelli,et al.  Noninvasive absorption and scattering spectroscopy of bulk diffusive media: An application to the optical characterization of human breast , 1999 .

[3]  P. Barber.  Absorption and scattering of light by small particles , 1984 .

[4]  J. Cauley,et al.  Broadband ultrasound attenuation predicts fractures strongly and independently of densitometry in older women. A prospective study. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. , 1997, Archives of Internal Medicine.

[5]  J. Mourant,et al.  Predictions and measurements of scattering and absorption over broad wavelength ranges in tissue phantoms. , 1997, Applied optics.

[6]  D. Burr,et al.  Bone Microdamage and Skeletal Fragility in Osteoporotic and Stress Fractures , 1997, Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

[7]  Harry K. Genant,et al.  Broadband ultrasound attenuation predicts fractures strongly and independently of densitometry in older women. A prospective study. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. , 1997, Archives of internal medicine.

[8]  Claus Christiansen,et al.  Assessment of fracture risk and its application to screening for postmenopausal osteoporosis. Report of a WHO Study Group. , 1994, World Health Organization technical report series.

[9]  N. Vagenas,et al.  FT-Raman Spectroscopy: A Tool for Monitoring the Demineralization of Bones , 2000 .

[10]  C C Glüer,et al.  Bone densitometry: current status and future prospects. , 1997, The British journal of radiology.

[11]  Peter Mayer,et al.  Classification of rheumatoid joint inflammation based on laser imaging , 2003, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[12]  D T Delpy,et al.  Measurement of the optical properties of the skull in the wavelength range 650-950 nm , 1993, Physics in medicine and biology.

[13]  A. Parfitt.  Interpretation of bone densitometry measurements: Disadvantages of a percentage scale and a discussion of some alternatives , 1990, Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

[14]  William H. Press,et al.  The Art of Scientific Computing Second Edition , 1998 .

[15]  T. Einhorn.  Bone strength: The bottom line , 1992, Calcified Tissue International.

[16]  Hua-bei Jiang,et al.  Three-dimensional diffuse optical tomography of bones and joints. , 2002, Journal of biomedical optics.

[17]  F. Duck.  Physical properties of tissue , 1990 .

[18]  F. A. Seiler,et al.  Numerical Recipes in C: The Art of Scientific Computing , 1989 .

[19]  H K Genant,et al.  Clinical utility of bone mass measurements in adults: consensus of an international panel. The Society for Clinical Densitometry. , 1996, Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism.

[20]  N. Watts,et al.  How to get the most out of bone densitometry. Results can help assess fracture risk and guide therapy. , 1998, Postgraduate medicine.

[21]  Yamada,et al.  Diffusion approximation for a dissipative random medium and the applications. , 1994, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics.

[22]  D. Delpy,et al.  Performance comparison of several published tissue near-infrared spectroscopy algorithms. , 1995, Analytical biochemistry.

[23]  S. Majumdar,et al.  In Vivo High Resolution MRI of the Calcaneus: Differences in Trabecular Structure in Osteoporosis Patients , 1998, Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

[24]  C C Glüer,et al.  Osteoporosis: association of recent fractures with quantitative US findings. , 1996, Radiology.

[25]  Francis A. Duck,et al.  Mechanical Properties of Tissue , 1990 .

[26]  B. Wilson,et al.  Time resolved reflectance and transmittance for the non-invasive measurement of tissue optical properties. , 1989, Applied optics.

[27]  S G Proskurin,et al.  A New Method of Bone Tissue Measurement Based upon Light Scattering , 1997, Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

[28]  O Johnell,et al.  Meta-analysis of how well measures of bone mineral density predict occurrence of osteoporotic fractures. , 1996, BMJ.

[29]  C. Formica,et al.  Standardization of BMD Measurements , 1998, Osteoporosis International.

[30]  Alessandro Torricelli,et al.  Rigorous characterization of time-resolved diffuse spectroscopy systems for measurements of absorption and scattering properties using solid phantoms , 2003, European Conference on Biomedical Optics.

[31]  R. Cubeddu,et al.  In vivo optical characterization of human tissues from 610 to 1010 nm by time-resolved reflectance spectroscopy. , 2001, Physics in medicine and biology.

[32]  L. O. Svaasand,et al.  Boundary conditions for the diffusion equation in radiative transfer. , 1994, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[33]  S. Cummings,et al.  Classification of Osteoporosis Based on Bone Mineral Densities , 2001, Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

[34]  P A Oberg,et al.  The optical properties of the cochlear bone. , 1997, Medical engineering & physics.

[35]  Alessandro Torricelli,et al.  Four-wavelength time-resolved optical mammography in the 680-980-nm range. , 2003, Optics letters.

[36]  Osteoporosis: Review of the Evidence for Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment and Cost-Effective Analysis , 1998, Osteoporosis International.

[37]  C. De Laet,et al.  Ultrasound measurement of bone , 1996, Clinical endocrinology.