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Updated: Apr 11, 2026
Application of Ultrasound and Shear Wave Elastography Imaging in a Rat Model of NAFLD/NASH
Published on: April 20, 2021
Shear wave dispersion in lean versus steatotic rat livers
Christopher T Barry1, Christopher Hazard1, Zaegyoo Hah1
1Departments of Surgery (C.T.B., K.-H.C.), Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (R.A.M., W.C.), and Radiology (D.J.R.), University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York USA; GE Global Research, Niskayuna, New York USA (C.H.); Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Z.H., A.P., K.J.P.), University of Rochester, Rochester, New York USA; and GE Global Research, Shanghai, China (G.C.).
Objectives:
The precise measurement of fat accumulation in the liver, or steatosis, is an important clinical goal. Our previous studies in phantoms and mouse livers support the hypothesis that, starting with a normal liver, increasing accumulations of microsteatosis and macrosteatosis will increase the lossy viscoelastic properties of shear waves in a medium. This increase results in an increased dispersion (or slope) of the shear wave speed in the steatotic livers.
Methods:
In this study, we moved to a larger animal model, lean versus obese rat livers ex vivo, and a higher-frequency imaging system to estimate the shear wave speed from crawling waves.
Results:
The results showed elevated dispersion in the obese rats and a separation of the lean versus obese liver parameters in a 2-dimensional parameter space of the dispersion (slope) and shear wave speed at a reference frequency of 150 Hz.
Conclusions:
We have confirmed in 3 separate studies the validity of our dispersion hypothesis in animal models.
