Researchers from the Cochin Hospital and the Langevin Institute in Paris (Inserm Unit 979) reveal that the “Aixplorer” elastography device constitutes a powerful imaging technique in the diagnostic from liver disease and in the characterization of tumors.
According to the study presented in the Inserm press release, the device is both a powerful ultrasound machine and a device for studying tissue elasticity, or an “elastograph”.
“The Aixplorer allows a very sensitive measurement of the hardness of a fabric,” explains Mickael Tanter, director of the team that designed the device. It combines a probe allowing remote palpation of the interior of the organs to be studied using a focused wave, and an ultra-fast ultrasound machine which records the propagation of this wave at the rate of 1000 images per second. “
The device then locates the fibrous areas, where the wave propagates rapidly, and, within the liver, determines whether the patient’s fibrosis requires treatment or not.
As well as the biopsy, and non invasive
According to scientists, it is therefore part of the liver biopsies, carried out to measure the stage of fibrosis, which could be avoided thanks to this technique.
Tested on 120 patients, it proved to be as effective as a biopsy and above all much less invasive. Where the biopsy involves taking a sample of the tissue with a syringe for analysis, elastography remotely assesses the characteristics of the tissue, and does not require anesthesia.
Applications in oncology
In addition to liver disease, “Airplorer” has also been shown to be successful in the characterization of cancers : “Measuring the elasticity of tissues provides a great deal of information on the location and nature of the tumors malignancies in the breast, liver, prostate or even on thyroid nodules, ”said Mickael Tanter.
For the researcher, the device could become an “essential tool for the study of the liver”, especially as his team is now developing new options to improve the information given by the device, and better characterize the pathology studied.
