[Ultrasound technologies' new clinical application for chronic liver diseases]

Area of Science:

• Hepatology
• Medical Imaging
• Artificial Intelligence

Background:

• Chronic liver disease presents significant health challenges.
• Liver biopsy has limitations, necessitating non-invasive assessment methods.
• Ultrasonic technologies offer potential for early diagnosis and management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review novel non-invasive ultrasonic parameters for chronic liver disease assessment.
• To highlight the potential of these methods for staging fibrosis, monitoring inflammation, and quantifying steatosis.
• To identify current challenges and future directions in the field.

Main Methods:

• Review of multiple novel ultrasonic parameters: elasticity, viscosity, fat quantification, and micro-flow imaging.
• Assessment of their reliability in staging liver fibrosis, monitoring inflammatory activity, and quantifying steatosis.
• Discussion of challenges including non-universal thresholds, confounding factors, and lack of standardization.

Main Results:

• Novel ultrasonic parameters demonstrate reliability in assessing liver fibrosis, inflammation, and steatosis.
• These technologies offer considerable potential for early diagnosis, disease monitoring, and prognostic management.
• Current challenges hinder universal application and require further research.

Conclusions:

• Non-invasive ultrasonic techniques are valuable for chronic liver disease management.
• Integration of multiple parameters and artificial intelligence models represents a promising future direction.
• Addressing standardization and confounding factors is crucial for clinical translation.