Elastography in Head and Neck Region -a Review

Sonographic elastography is a new technique for measurement of the tissue stiffness, and is currently under investigation for tissue characterization in several anatomic sites. In recent years, real-time Ultrasonography elastography (USE) modes have appeared on commercially available clinical ultrasound machines, stimulating an explosion of research into potential oncologic and non-oncologic clinical applications of USE. Preliminary evidence suggests that USE can differentiate benign and malignant conditions accurately in several different tissues. The principles underlying elastography are that tissue compression produces strain (displacement) within the tissue – which is lower in harder tissues than in softer tissues and that malignant tissues are generally harder than normal surrounding tissue. Therefore, elastography might yield clinical information useful in diagnosing cervical metastasis and improving prognosis in oral cancer .The purpose of this review is to highlight a promising new ultrasound technique, known as elastography, which measures the characteristics of tissue compliance.