MR exhibitors focus on elastography, innovative design

(DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING) -- Physicians have used palpation regularly as a diagnostic technique since the days of the ancient Greeks. Up to now, the potential value of this method has been explored in the imaging field only by ultrasound research teams, but at this year’s ECR technical exhibition, delegates can see for themselves how the same principles may be combined with MRI to improve diagnosis in patients with liver disease.

GE Healthcare is demonstrating a new application developed for the Optima MR450w wide-bore scanner. Called MR-Touch, it uses elastography, or low-frequency sound waves, to identify differences in the stiffness of healthy and diseased tissue. The results are superimposed on a conventional MR image to identify areas of fibrotic tissue.

This fibrosis will normally be caused by hepatitis or alcohol abuse, but can be a consequence of many different disease processes, said Guillermo Zanolli, MR modality manager with GE Healthcare.

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