Applicability of finite-difference time-domain method to simulation of wave propagation in cancellous bone

In cancellous bone, longitudinal waves often separate into fast and slow waves depending on the alignment of bone trabeculae. This interesting phenomenon becomes an effective tool for the diagnosis of osteoporosis because wave propagation behavior depends on the bone structure. We have, therefore, simulated wave propagation in such a complex medium by the finitedifference time-domain (FDTD) method, using a three-dimensional X-ray computer tomography (CT) model of an actual cancellous bone. In this simulation, experimentally observed acoustic constants of the cortical bone were adopted. As a result, the generation of fast and slow waves was confirmed. The speed of fast waves and the amplitude of slow waves showed good correlations with the bone volume fraction. The simulated results were also compared with the experimental results obtained from the identical cancellous bone.