Ultrasound to measure the fat infiltration index
New, groundbreaking method for measuring fatty infiltration using ultrasound.
• Fatty liver disease is the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Fatty liver disease, or hepatic steatosis, occurs when fat molecules are not metabolized efficiently by the body and end up being stored in the liver.
• While a normal liver contains a small amount of fat, the liver is considered “fatty” if the amount of fat within the hepatocytes exceeds 5%.
• Early detection of hepatic steatosis improves the chances of managing or reversing the condition before irreversible changes occur.
• Currently, existing medical techniques that can diagnose liver fat content vary in their effectiveness, cost, invasiveness, and availability of equipment. There is a need to develop less invasive and objective quantitative biomarkers for the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis that are cost-effective and widely available.
• The (UDFF) is an innovative advanced application available for use in the ultrasound system that can quantify the amount of fat contained in a patient’s liver during an ultrasound scan. The UDFF offers a similar clinical utility to the measurement of fat with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI-PDFF) to assist clinicians in determining hepatic steatosis.
• The MRI-PDFF and UDFF methods classify hepatic steatosis as an index value greater than 5%. By using this simple tool, doctors now have a new, non-invasive way to help manage adult patients with fatty liver disease.
