Abstract #0021

Driver-Free Assessment of Liver Stiffness Using Fast Strain-Encoded (FSENC) MRI

Ahmed A. Harouni¹, Ahmed M. Gharib², Nael F. Osman³, Roderic I. Pettigrew², Khaled Z. Abd-Elmoniem²

¹Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States; ²NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States; ³Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States

Liver fibroses is a major health concern in the US. and is reversible in early stages. Therefore, there is a need for a non-invasive screening tool. We propose to use the myocardiums intrinsic motion as a source of vibration with fast strain-encoded MRI to measure the strain through the livers left lobe adjacent to the myocardium. Phantom experiments and in-vivo experiments were conducted. Results show significant difference between healthy subjects and fibrotic patient (p<0.0001). Peak strain was 13.5% 0.86%, 4.35% 2.88% for healthy subjects and fibrotic patient, respectively. Reproducibility experiments were also performed and showed no significant difference between repeated measured peak strain.