Equipment and method for calibration and quality assurance of an ultrasonic bone analysis apparatus

An improvement to calibration and quality assurance of an ultrasonic bone analysis apparatus is achieved by using phantoms. A received ultrasound signal that passed through a first phantom is used as a baseline for calculating BUA. The first phantom has an attenuation-versus-frequency profile that is substantially flat in a frequency range of 200 to 1000 kHz and a sound impedance that approximates that of soft human tissue. A propagation time of the signal is used to calibrate a zero point of the apparatus. A second phantom has an attenuation in a frequency range of 200-1000 kHz which approximates that of a human foot, including an attenuation-versus-frequency profile that is substantially linear in the frequency range of 200-600 kHz and is approximately 1 dB/MHz per mm. A received ultrasound signal that passed through the second phantom is used to calibrate the apparatus for a BUA calculation, and can also be used for at least one of determining and correcting a drift of the apparatus. A third phantom has a predetermined SOS that is substantially independent of temperature. A received ultrasound signal that passed through the third phantom is used to calibrate the apparatus for a SOS calculation, and can also be used for at least one of determining and correcting instrument drift. An ultrasonic signal is transmitted through mutually touching transducer pads. The received signal is used as a baseline for calculating BUA. A measurement of the propagation time of the received signal is compared with a temporally-proximate measurement of an ultrasonic signal that passed through a patient's heel to determine a time of propagation through the heel.