Non-invasive Diagnosis of Liver Clinical Condition by Real-time Tissue Elastography and Shear Wave Measurement : Get More Accessible by One Probe

It is ver y important to understand the stage of liver fibrosis and the level of inflammation both in a treatment plan setting and for predicting the prognosis of viral and other diffuse liver diseases. Liver biopsy is considered as the gold standard but it has problems relating to its invasiveness (pain and bleeding) and the possibility of bias due to sampling error. Recently, ultrasound elastography has been reported as an effective method for evaluating the level of hepatic fibrosis noninvasively. The possibility of using elastography for evaluating liver cancer risk has also been studied. 2) Other publications suggest that liver stiffness significantly varies under the influence of inflammation, jaundice and congestion. Many devices capable of ultrasound elastography are available, featuring measurements of different physical parameters and using different excitation methods (generation of the physical phenomena for measurement). The appropriate method should be selected after carefully studying these different features (Table 1).