Multi-Feature US in NAFLD and HCC: A Proof of Concept Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Multi-Feature Ultrasound for the Assessment and Clinical Management of Chronic Liver Disease and HCC: A Proof of Concept Study.
IRAS ID
215705
Contact name
Simon D. Taylor-Robinson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 10 months, 1 days
Research summary
Liver disease is very common in the United Kingdom. There are many different causes and the degree of liver disease someone has can worsen over time. The risk for getting liver cancer also increases as the liver disease worsens. Because of this, it is important for doctors to know exactly what degree of liver disease someone has, and at the moment it is difficult to do this. Ultrasound scans and blood tests are helpful, but these tests can be difficult to read and they don’t always give all the information a doctor needs. Liver biopsies, where a needle is used to take some tissue from the liver, come with some risks for the patient. The small bit of tissue also does not always represent the entire liver. \nWe believe a more detailed ultrasound scan, with combined measurements, may help determine the degree of liver disease much more clearly than we are able to now. This helps doctors make decisions to improve people’s health, and also helps researchers learn more about the liver and liver cancer. \nThe detailed scan which we call ‘multi-feature ultrasound’ or ‘MFUS’, consists of a normal ultrasound scan, but adds a measurement of liver stiffness and examination of blood flow through the liver and lesions by using a contrast dye. We also examine the images using ’texture analysis’ a method whereby a computer examines the ultrasound images in detail. Because images are all digital, it is very easy for a computer to find patterns in these images. We suspect that computers can find important patterns much easier than we can, and can describe them much more clearly.\nWe aim to compare these results with blood markers and clinical information.\n
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NW/0067
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jan 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion