Quantitative ultrasonometry for the diagnosis of osteoporosis in human skeletal remains: New methods and standards

In recent years, the study of osteoporosis and bone mineral quality has received increasing interest by biological anthropologists. However, a number of challenges remain in the determination of bone loss in ancient remains. This underlines the need for a new methodology and new standards, specifically created and adapted to human skeletal remains.

The aim of the present study is to develop new quantitative reference standards for the diagnosis of osteoporosis in skeletal human remains. The researchers did this through the application of Quantitative Ultrasound analyses to phalanges of a large sample of individuals. The study included 110 subjects of known sex and age-at-death from the Frassetto collection.

After the assessment of intra- and inter-observer reliability, new ultrasonometric standards were created. The results provide a reference point for the analysis of osteoporosis and bone loss in skeletal remains. The applicability of the method was tested in a medieval sample including both males and females. The low intra- and inter-observer errors suggest that the Phalangeal Ultrasonometry is a reliable and valid technique in this case. Further, it can be applied to modern and ancient human skeletons.

A key strength of the present investigation is that all the modern skeletons examined came from an osteological collection with known age-at-death and sex. The subjects referred to the same modern period and came from the same geographic area. Future studies should address the diagnosis of osteoporosis in skeletal remains by means of Quantitative Ultrasound compared to other diagnostic techniques. With the new reference curves, this technique can also help identify the pathological status related to increased bone mineral density.