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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.