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Keywords:
Diagnostic procedure, Elastography, Ultrasound physics, Liver, Cancer
Authors:
K. L. Choong1, B. J. J. Abdullah1, G. Kumar2, C. H. Yeong1, K. L. Goh1, B. K. Yoong1; 1Kuala lumpur, WP/MY, 2Kuala Lumpur/MY
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2014/C-1921
Aims and objectives
Introduction
Conventional ultrasound is being used widely for screening patients who are at high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [Chalasani N 1999].
Elastography is a stiffness imaging modality [Ophir J 2000] which is based on the premise that tissue elasticity can be changed by pathological conditions such as neoplasm or inflammation [Yeh WC 2002].
An excitation force is applied and the tissue response is measured to infer the mechanical properties of the tissue.
Supersonic shear wave elastography (SWE) is a novel technology involving the remote generation of transient mechanical forces into the tissue by a transducer.
The resulting shear waves are imaged with the same transducer at an ultra-fast imaging sequence in order to provide quantitative elasticity maps [Bercoff J 2004].
SWE is integrated into an ultrasound machine which provides real-time two-dimensional B-mode images to identify the area of interest.
The principle of SWE is demonstrated in Fig.
1.
SWE has been described in the assessment of the mechanical properties of liver tissues [Muller M 2009].
A previous study evaluated liver stiffness in chronic hepatitis C using SWE in comparison with TE [Bavu E 2011].
The intra-observer and inter-observer variability for assessment of liver fibrosis has also been reported [Ferraioli G 2012].
However,
there is limited data on the role of this relatively new technology in assessing the elasticity of focal liver lesions.
Objectives
The objective is to determine the elasticity values of HCC and liver metastases,
and also to evaluate the potential role of SWE in the characterization of these tumours.