In vivo visualization of abdominal malignancies with acoustic radiation force elastography

• Published in: Physics in medicine & biology Vol. 53; no. 1; pp. 279 - 293
• Main Authors: Fahey, B J, Nelson, R C, Bradway, D P, Hsu, S J, Dumont, D M, Trahey, G E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IOP Publishing 07.01.2008
• Subjects: Abdominal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Abdominal Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Acoustics; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biophysical Phenomena; Biophysics; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - diagnosis; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - diagnostic imaging; Elasticity Imaging Techniques - methods; Female; Humans; Kidney Neoplasms - diagnosis; Kidney Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Liver Neoplasms - diagnosis; Liver Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Tomography, X-Ray Computed
• ISSN: 0031-9155; 1361-6560
• DOI: 10.1088/0031-9155/53/1/020

The utility of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging for real-time visualization of abdominal malignancies was investigated. Nine patients presenting with suspicious masses in the liver (n = 7) or kidney (n = 2) underwent combined sonography/ARFI imaging. Images were acquired of a total of 12 tumors in the nine patients. In all cases, boundary definition in ARFI images was improved or equivalent to boundary definition in B-mode images. Displacement contrast in ARFI images was superior to echo contrast in B-mode images for each tumor. The mean contrast for suspected hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) in B-mode images was 2.9 dB (range: 1.5-4.2) versus 7.5 dB (range: 3.1-11.9) in ARFI images, with all HCCs appearing more compliant than regional cirrhotic liver parenchyma. The mean contrast for metastases in B-mode images was 3.1 dB (range: 1.2-5.2) versus 9.3 dB (range: 5.7-13.9) in ARFI images, with all masses appearing less compliant than regional non-cirrhotic liver parenchyma. ARFI image contrast (10.4 dB) was superior to B-mode contrast (0.9 dB) for a renal mass. To our knowledge, we present the first in vivo images of abdominal malignancies in humans acquired with the ARFI method or any other technique of imaging tissue elasticity.