Improvements in Hepatic Stiffness Assessment with 3-D/3-Axis MR Elastography

Meng Yin¹, Kevin J. Glaser¹, Jun Chen¹, Jayant A. Talwalkar², Armando Manduca¹, Richard L. Ehman¹

One advantage of liver MR elastography (MRE) over biopsy or ultrasound-based transient elastography is its ability to reduce sampling errors by measuring liver stiffness over a large portion of the liver. While existing 2-D or localized approaches yield valid results in a substantial part of the volume, a full 3-D/3-axis wave analysis is required for valid measurements of stiffness throughout the entire liver. This investigation compares a 2-D and a 3-D approach for liver MRE and demonstrates that 3-D MRE analysis improves the homogeneity of hepatic stiffness estimates.