Apparatus for determining the mechanical properties of a solid

摘要

Apparatus for determining, through an interposed medium (20), eq soft tissue, the mechanical properties of a solid (16) eq bone having a surface (18). The apparatus includes a) ultrasonic transmission apparatus (10,60) located at a first location, for transmitting ultrasonic waves (29,71) through the interposed medium and the solid, generally parallel to the surface, b) at least one ultrasonic receiver unit (5,12a,12b,64), located at each of second and third locations, for receiving the ultrasonic waves, wherein the first, second and third locations are co-linear along the surface, c) apparatus (62) for locating the receiver unit such that a first receipt time of an ultrasonic wave from the surface to the receiver unit at the second location is generally equivalent to a second receipt time from the surface to the receiver unit at the third location, and d) apparatus (61) for calculating the mechanical properties from ultrasonic waves transmitted by the ultrasonic transmission apparatus once the first and second receipt times are generally identical. In this way effects arising from different thicknesses of the interposed layer are eliminated.