Using quantitative ultrasound for the assessment of the stability of an implant: a numerical study

Vincent Mathieu , Fani Anagnostou , Emmanuel Soffer , Guillaume Haiat

Titanium endosseous implants are widely used in oral and maxillofacial surgery for the replacement of missing teeth. Despite their routine clinical use, failures of implant integration still occur. A new experimental ultrasonic methodology has been developed for the estimation of the stability of prototype cylindrical implants inserted in bone tissue. Cylindrical titanium implants were inserted in four groups of rabbit femurs, each group corresponding to a controlled level of stability of the cylinders. The 10 MHz ultrasonic response of the cylinders is significantly correlated with the level of stability (p < 10^-5). A numerical Finite Difference Time Domain model accounting for mode reflections and conversions was considered in order to understand the origin of the different echoes of the ultrasonic response of the implants. The importance of lateral waves propagation was evidenced. The numerical model also enabled to estimate the sensitivity of the ultrasonic response to variations in the material properties of bone tissue surrounding the implants.

Mots clés: Bone; Implant; Ultrasound; Stability

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Vincent Mathieu, Fani Anagnostou, Emmanuel Soffer, Guillaume Haiat. Using quantitative ultrasound for the assessment of the stability of an implant: a numerical study. Acoustics 2012, Apr 2012, Nantes, France. ⟨hal-00811243⟩