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MR Elastography (MRE)

MR Elastography is a Mayo Clinic-developed imaging technology that is designed to quantitatively assess the mechanical properties (especially the "stiffness") of tissue, in vivo. Many potential clinical applications are under development, including the diagnosis of cancer. Recent Mayo Clinic research has provided strong evidence that MR Elastography can be used to detect and measure fibrosis in the liver before it progresses into untreatable cirrhosis. Conventional CT, MRI, and ultrasound imaging are not capable of demonstrating hepatic fibrosis and currently the only accepted diagnostic approach is liver biopsy. Current results of Mayo Clinic research suggest that MR Elastography has great potential to spare many patients the discomfort, pain, and risk of complications associated with liver biopsy, while potentially increasing the reliability of diagnosis by avoiding sampling errors.

The MR Elastography (MRE) technique requires the generation of mechanical waves of acoustic frequencies in the part of the body that is being examined. Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a unique MRE Driver System that is capable of safely and reliably generating these vibrations in the special environment of an MRI scanner. This system consists of an Active Driver Unit and a Passive Driver connected by flexible tubing. The passive driver is a simple, nonmetallic device that is placed in contact with the abdomen in the MRI scanner. The active driver unit is located outside the magnetic field of the MRI unit and generates acoustic energy that is transmitted to the passive driver pneumatically. This technology is unique and has been patented by the Mayo Clinic.

Read the MR Elastography press release