Abstract
SIGNIFICANCE: Photoacoustic (PA) technology shows great potential for bone assessment. However, the PA signals in cancellous bone are complex due to its complex composition and porous structure, making such signals challenging to apply directly in bone analysis. AIM: We introduce a photoacoustic differential attenuation spectrum (PA-DAS) method to separate the contribution of the acoustic propagation path to the PA signal from that of the source, and theoretically and experimentally investigate the propagation attenuation characteristics of cancellous bone. APPROACH: We modified Biot's theory by accounting for the high frequency and viscosity. In parallel with the rabbit osteoporosis model, we build an experimental PA-DAS system featuring an eccentric excitation differential detection mechanism. Moreover, we extract a PA-DAS quantization parameter-slope-to quantify the attenuation of high- and low-frequency components. RESULTS: The results show that the porosity of cancellous bone can be evaluated by fast longitude wave attenuation at different frequencies and the PA-DAS slope of the osteoporotic group is significantly lower compared with the normal group (**p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Findings demonstrate that PA-DAS effectively differentiates osteoporotic bone from healthy bone, facilitating quantitative assessment of bone mineral density, and osteoporosis diagnosis.