Detection of osteoporosis using mechanical vibration

This report aims to investigate the feasibility of using a mechanical vibration test system as a possible in-vitro test unit for bone densitometry. The report reviews some major measurement techniques of bone densitometry and vibration analysis. A mechanical system to measure bone densitometry was then designed and developed to measure the ulna and the tibia. Various vibration tests on human subjects based on mechanical vibration and wave propagation theory were carried out. Analysis of the test results were then performed to obtain a correlation between bone mineral density (BMD). Key measurements for osteoporosis were calibrated against X-ray densitometric measurements taken from the Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) system at the Physiological Laboratory at the National Institute of Education. Comparative studies were also carried out with a dry tibia bone from an unclaimed cadevar