Multiparametric ultrasound imaging for early detection of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

项目摘要 肝病在地球仪的数量和相关性正在增加。这种疾病不会引起明显的 在许多情况下的症状。诊断后，与医疗有关的费用非常高。患者可以 非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）的特征是基于以下疾病的进行性存在： 脂肪变性（即肝脏内脂肪的异常积聚）、炎症、气球样变，然后是肝纤维化。 尽管NAFLD快速增长和流行，但治疗NAFLD的唯一疗法是改变生活方式，例如 饮食和锻炼。虽然制药行业正在积极寻求发现和开发 候选药物疗法，以解决这一未满足的医疗需求，有一个迫切的临床需要的能力， 非侵入性检测、准确分期和可靠监测NAFLD。为此，本研究项目的目标是 开发用于非酒精性脂肪肝多参数超声（mpUS）成像的系统和方法 疾病（NAFLD），包括早期病理学进展。我们的初步研究结果强烈表明， 结合脂肪变性、气球样变和炎症信息的mpUS检测有可能提供一种 综合评价早期NAFLD的主要成分。建议的主要创新之处 研究项目在于NAFLD的生物物理模型与这些协调的mpUS之间的隐含联系 测量.本项目的第一个目标是开发一种集成的超声系统和方法， 进行mpUS成像。然后我们将在健康大鼠肝脏中优化这种新的成像系统。最后，我们将 用反映人类疾病进展的NAFLD大鼠模型评价mpUS成像。这里我们将 还优化了生物物理模型和NAFLD进展决策中的纵向性能。如果 如果成功，这项研究将引入并验证一种安全、具有成本效益的mpUS成像技术， 非侵入性检测、准确分期和可靠监测NAFLD。

PROJECT SUMMARY Liver disease is increasing in numbers and relevance across the globe. This disease causes no noticeable symptoms in many cases. After diagnosis, the costs associated with medical care are very high. Patients can be characterized on the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) spectrum based on the progressive presence of steatosis (i.e. abnormal accumulation of fat within the liver), inflammation, ballooning, and then hepatic fibrosis. Despite the rapid growth and prevalence, the only therapy to treat NAFLD are lifestyle modifications, such as diet and exercise. While the pharmaceutical industry is actively pursuing the discovery and development of candidate drug therapies to address this unmet medical need, there is an urgent clinical need for the ability to noninvasively detect, accurately stage, and reliably monitor NAFLD. To that end, the goal of this research project is to develop a system and method for multiparametric ultrasound (mpUS) imaging of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) including early pathology progression. Our preliminary findings strongly suggest that a single mpUS test that combines steatosis, ballooning, and inflammation information has the potential to provide a comprehensive estimation of the main components of early stage NAFLD. The main innovation of the proposed research project lies in the implicit link between biophysical models of NAFLD with these coordinated mpUS measurements. The first objective of this project is to develop an integrated ultrasound system and method for performing mpUS imaging. Then we will optimize this new imaging system in healthy rat liver. Lastly, we will evaluate mpUS imaging with a rat model of NAFLD that mirrors disease progression in humans. Here we will also optimize a biophysical model and longitudinal performance in the decision of NAFLD progression. If successful, this research will introduce and validate a safe, cost-effective mpUS imaging technology that can noninvasively detect, accurately stage, and reliably monitor NAFLD.