Shear Wave Dispersion in Lean Versus Steatotic Rat Livers. (1st June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Barry, Christopher T.; Hazard, Christopher; Hah, Zaegyoo; Cheng, Gang; Partin, Alexander; Mooney, Robert A.; Chuang, Kuang-Hsiang; Cao, Wenqing; Rubens, Deborah J.; Parker, Kevin J.
• Is Part Of: Journal of ultrasound in medicine. Volume 34:Number 6(2015)
• Page Start: 1123
• Page End: 1129
• Publication Date: 2015-06-01
• Subjects: dispersion -- fatty liver -- medical ultrasound -- shear waves -- steatosis; Ultrasonics in medicine -- Periodicals; Ultrasonics; Ultrasonography; Ultrasonics in medicine; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Periodicals; 616.07543
• DOI: 10.7863/ultra.34.6.1123
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0278-4297

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives: The precise measurement of fat accumulation in the liver, or steatosis, is an important clinical goal. Our previous studies in phantoms and mouse livers support the hypothesis that, starting with a normal liver, increasing accumulations of microsteatosis and macrosteatosis will increase the lossy viscoelastic properties of shear waves in a medium. This increase results in an increased dispersion (or slope) of the shear wave speed in the steatotic livers. Methods: In this study, we moved to a larger animal model, lean versus obese rat livers ex vivo, and a higher‐frequency imaging system to estimate the shear wave speed from crawling waves. Results: The results showed elevated dispersion in the obese rats and a separation of the lean versus obese liver parameters in a 2‐dimensional parameter space of the dispersion (slope) and shear wave speed at a reference frequency of 150 Hz. Conclusions: We have confirmed in 3 separate studies the validity of our dispersion hypothesis in animal models.