Periodicity estimation under variations of scatterer spacings, thickness and pulse frequency: A 2D simulation study

Mean scatterer spacing (MSS) has been used to characterize biological tissues, however it is not well explored yet. This study simulated ultrasound (US) propagation through a simple scatterer numerical model (first approach to trabecular bone), under variations of scatterer spacings, thickness and pulse frequency, and evaluated the capacity of spectral methods in estimating MSS. MSS values of 0.8 and 1.0 mm were simulated. The methods provided correct estimates for 3.5 MHz in all jitter values. For 1 MHz, only the MSS of 1.2 mm was identified. Variation of scatterer thickness did not alter significantly MSS estimates. For trabecular bone assessment, the best US frequency may be between the two tested frequencies in this work.