A System for Measuring Sound Transmission Through Joints

Sound transmission in the human body can be affected by the tissue composition along the sound path and surrounding structures. Therefore, acoustic transmission may correlate with pathologies involving structural changes. Previous studies utilized sound transmission to detect a variety of pulmonary, gastrointestinal, vascular, cardiac conditions, and developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]. The objective of this study is to design and test a reliable system capable of providing adequate acoustic stimulus, and simultaneously measure transmitted signals at multiple skin surface locations. The study objectives include determining: (1) the static load needed to reach a target SNR (>20 dB) at the measurement points and a target coherence (>0.8) between excitation and measurement points; (2) the exciter sensitivity to static load changes; and (3) the exciter input maximum power and corresponding acceleration. These results will help guide the choice of optimal exciter that: (1) can withstand sufficient static load (~500g), which would provide coupling to the bone to reach a target SNR and coherence; (2) has low sensitivity to load (low variability for a load change ~100 gm); (3) can provide sufficient acoustic excitation energy to maintain the target SNR and coherence; (4) be available at a reasonable cost (~<; $500); (5) ensures patient comfort (with no subject discomfort reported for a contact area of ~ 2 cm2).