Measurement of attenuation and scatterer spacing in human liver tissue: preliminary results

A study measuring two quantitative parameters of human liver in vivo was performed to assess the reliability of measurement of the two parameters, and to evaluate their potential for diagnosing and grading diffuse fibrotic liver disease. The parameters measured were attenuation and "mean scatterer spacing," a measure of tissue structure. Components of variance analysis demonstrated that variation in the measured parameters was a function of the subject being examined, with significant variation noted between data acquisition sessions performed the same day. There was no significant additional variation of the measurements from week to week over a one-month period. A good correlation of the parameters with the severity of liver disease indicates that the technique may be useful in the clinical evaluation of diffuse liver disease.