title: In vivo visualization of abdominal malignancies with acoustic radiation force elastography.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Fahey
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Bradway
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Dumont
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.|Department of Radiology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Trahey
mesh_terms: D000008:Abdominal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000162:Acoustics; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed