Abstract
Bone fracture is one of the most common medical problems which reduces the quality of life of individuals. In the United States, osteoporosis alone causes 1.3 million bone fractures a year, with an annual cost of $5.2 billion dollars. Osteoporosis is a disease in which low bone mass and changes in bone quality and architecture increase the risk of fractures. Women are at greater risk of developing osteoporosis than men. Osteoporosis targets both trabecular and cortical bone (Kanis et al., 1994; Kasra and Grynpas, 1994). Therefore, bone density of cortical bone structures such as ulna and mid-radius may be used as a predictor of osteoporotic fractures (Cummings et al., 1993). Bone quality assessment and predicting the risk of bone fracture is very important in prevention of fracture and proper bone treatment. In the NIH Consensus Development Statement (1984), the need for improved measurement techniques is emphasized.