Trial Information

Magnetic Resonance Elastography as a Method to Estimate Stiffness of Soft Tissues

Recently a new and novel noninvasive imaging-based technique known as Magnetic Resonance
Elastography (MRE) was developed that is capable of quantifying stiffness of soft tissues
such as liver, spleen, kidney, heart brain, breast, aorta etc. In MRE a person is laid into
an MR scanner which is similar to all MR scans. In addition, a drum (passive driver) is
placed on the body (area close to the region of interest), which is connected by a long
plastic tube that runs outside the scan room. This drum is tightly strapped by a Velcro to
the body for better contact. Then the other end of the plastic tube is connected to an
active driver that produces vibrations of frequencies in the range of 20Hz -2kHz. These
frequencies of vibrations are transferred to the passive driver which produces vibrations on
the body. These vibrations are tracked using MR scanner to produce wave images. A
post-processing of these wave images are performed to obtain spatial stiffness maps.
Currently, MRE is a clinical tool to assess hepatic fibrosis at many institutions. MRE is
superior to many invasive techniques (i.e. biopsies, catheter based Pressure-Volume
measurements) and mechanical testing in that it is noninvasive and can be performed in vivo
under physiologic conditions. MRE could make stiffness widely available and could
revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of numerous diseases affecting stiffness of soft
tissues. For example in Liver: diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis, Non-alcoholic fatty liver
disease, liver tumors etc. Heart: diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction, myocardial infarction,
hypertrophic cardiaomyopathy, contractility etc. Brain: diagnosis of multiple sclerosis,
Alzheimer's etc.., Aorta: Aortic aneurysms, hypertension etc. This technology is completely
noninvasive and the vibrational energy is way below the required standards. Previous
experiences of these vibrations are like massaging the body. The risks of this research
study are minimal, which means that we do not believe that they will be any different than
what you would experience at a routine clinical visit or during your daily life. This study
will not make participants health better. It is for the benefit of research.The specific aim
of this study is that MRE can be used as a noninvasive tool to diagnose different disease
states in soft tissues. In this study we will be applying this technique in adult volunteers
to test the feasibility and validation of the technique in different organs.