Validation of a Novel Fine Structure MRI Technique Using a Porcine Liver as Phantom for Liver Fibrosis

Samantha A. Telfer¹, N.J. Taylor², James Stirling², Ian Simcock², Anwar R. Padhani², Gareth Thomas¹, T. W. James¹

Fine structure analysis (structural spectroscopy of fine textures below the resolution limit of clinical MR imaging) was applied to specially acquired MR data of ex-vivo livers from pigs and oxen to establish their utility as phantoms for characterising chronic liver disease (CLD). Porcine liver exhibits fibrotic structure similar to human CLD whilst ox liver has an appearance similar to healthy human liver. Whole liver lobules decorated with a fibrotic network exhibit a distinctly different spectral signature than the underlying vascular structure of the lobules - hence clearly distinguishing between the two livers and supporting use of fine structure analysis.