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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
A Probing Device for Quantitatively Measuring the Mechanical Properties of Soft Tissues during Arthroscopy
Published on: May 1, 2020
Reliable measurement procedure of virtual touch tissue quantification with acoustic radiation force impulse imaging
Chie Kaminuma1, Yoshito Tsushima, Noriko Matsumoto
1Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Gunma University Hospital, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan. m09702037@gunma-u.ac.jp
Objectives:
The purpose of this study was to find a reliable procedure for performing virtual touch tissue quantification of the liver.
Methods:
Twenty healthy volunteers were enrolled after informed consent was obtained. The liver and spleen of each volunteer were examined on the same day by two different sonologists. The shear wave velocity values at deep and superficial locations of the right and left lobes of the liver and the spleen were obtained before and after food consumption and with and without deep inspiration. The measurements were performed 5 times in each location, and the mean shear wave velocities were recorded.
Results:
No statistically significant difference was found between the mean shear wave velocities obtained by the two operators. A difference was found between the velocities obtained in the deep portion of the right lobe (5.5 cm from the probe; mean ± SD, 1.17 ± 0.25 m/s on the intercostal scan and 1.35 ± 0.45 m/s on the subcostal scan) and the superficial portion (3.5 cm; 1.56 ± 0.43 and 1.74 ± 0.74 m/s; P < .001; P < .002, respectively), and the values obtained in the deep portion of the right lobe on the intercostal scan were lower than those obtained on the subcostal scan (P < .05). There were no differences in the mean shear wave velocities of the liver before and after food consumption or with and without deep inspiration. The velocities of the spleen did not differ before and after food consumption (2.33 ± 0.47 versus 2.39 ± 0.58 m/s).
Conclusions:
In healthy people, mean shear wave velocities were dependent on the measurement site in the liver, and food consumption or deep inspiration did not affect velocity measurements of the liver or spleen.
