MR Elastography of Liver Disease: State of the Art.

Many diseases markedly affect the mechanical properties of tissues. This accounts for the efficacy of palpation, a centuries-old technique of clinical medicine. MR Elastography (MRE) is an emerging diagnostic imaging technique for quantitatively assessing the mechanical properties of tissue [1]. It is a three-step process, involving: (i) generating mechanical waves within the tissues of interest, (ii) imaging the micron-level displacements caused by propagating waves using a special MR imaging technique with oscillating motionsensitizing gradients, and (iii) processing the wave images using an “inversion” algorithm to generate quantitative maps of mechanical properties.