Magnetic resonance elastography with twin drivers for high homogeneity and sensitivity

Abstract

Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) is a phase-contrast technique using conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging system to visualize propagating shear waves and study the stiffness of tissues. Usually, shear vibrations are applied to the surface of tissues by means of mechanical driver at one point. But it is hard for the single driver to detect very small tumors. Multiple drivers are expected to provide better elastogram and to be more sensitive to the small stiff inclusions. In this study, a pair of drivers was used and compared with the single driver. The result shows that using the twin drivers is more sensitive to small hard inclusions than using single driver. It is expected that the twin drivers can detect small tumors in tissues which can hardly be detected by a single driver. Further study will be conducted with the twin drivers in ex-vivo and in-vivo studies. © 2006 IEEE.