Elastography

Last revised by Arlene Campos ◉ on 19 Feb 2025

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Goel A, Bell D, Moore C, et al. Elastography. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 27 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-25315

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-25315

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/25315?embed_domain=hackmd.io%2F%40yipuafecsl2jsu8smr5njq%2Fbnjhjgjghjghjgh

rID:

25315

Article created:

19 Oct 2013, Ayush Goel

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Ayush Goel had no recorded disclosures.

View Ayush Goel's current disclosures

Last revised:

19 Feb 2025, Arlene Campos ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Arlene Campos had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Arlene Campos's current disclosures

Revisions:

19 times, by 15 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Sections:

Imaging Technology

Tags:

refs, cases

Synonyms:

Elastography - general

Elastography is a newer technique that exploits the fact that a pathological process alters the elastic properties of the involved tissue. This change in elasticity is detected and imaged using elastography.

Radiographic technique

Sonoelastography

Sonoelastography is the term used when ultrasound is used to assess elastography.

strain elastography (also known as static or compression elastography)
shear wave elastography (also known as transient elastography)

MR elastography

MR elastography is the term used when MRI is used to assess tissue stiffness. It uses shear waves to assess the tissue displacement in all directions making it more precise than sonoelastography.

MR elastography has been most widely used in cases of liver fibrosis where larger lesions can be easily assessed even in the presence of ascites.

Uses

differentiating malignant and benign neoplasms (especially breast)
identifying early traumatic changes in muscles and tendons
aiding in deciding the biopsy site more accurately, reducing negative biopsy rates
assessing liver fibrosis ³
assessing liver steatosis (eg metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis (MASH))
assessing cervical insufficiency , reducing rates of preterm birth or miscarriage ⁴