Key result
MRE-based tissue strain mapping outperforms conventional MRE for detecting active lesion expansion in preliminary studies.
Why the study?
Active lesion expansion indicates disease progression, but sequential imaging is often unavailable and rapid growth must usually be inferred from indirect findings.
Does tissue strain mapping via MR elastography detect active lesion expansion better than conventional MRE in tissue phantoms and in vivo?
Does tissue strain mapping via MR elastography detect active lesion expansion better than conventional MRE in tissue phantoms and in vivo?
A novel MR elastography-based tissue strain mapping technique can detect active lesion expansion by revealing perilesional strain not visible on conventional MRE.
Should not yet change practice; leaves open translation of strain mapping to human lesion monitoring.
Purpose Active lesion expansion is clinically important because it can indicate disease progression and influence management and treatment planning. However, sequential imaging is often unavailable, and rapid growth can only be inferred from indirect findings such as active perilesional tissue injury. This study aimed to implement and test the feasibility of an MR elastography (MRE)‐based technique for assessing the expansile nature of mass lesions by detecting stiffness changes caused by mechanical strain manifestations in adjacent tissues. Methods A tissue strain mapping (TSM) algorithm was developed using spatial–temporal directional filtering to reveal the presence of perilesional latent strain that is not apparent in conventional MRE inversions. The technical feasibility was tested in tissue‐simulating phantoms containing a mass that was progressively expanded. Preliminary feasibility for clinical application was also demonstrated in representative in vivo examples. Resulting TSM maps were compared with conventional MRE stiffness maps. Results In the phantom experiments, TSM revealed the presence of local strain at the periphery of the expanding mass, with the effect increasing proportionally to the degree of expansion. Conventional MRE did not demonstrate comparable localized stiffening patterns. In vivo examples showed similar perilesional strain features that were not apparent on conventional MRE maps. Conclusion The feasibility of the proposed MRE‐based TSM technique was demonstrated in phantom and preliminary in vivo studies. These findings suggest that the technique is a promising tool for assessing the expansile nature of mass lesions and motivate further development of the TSM processing and exploration of potential clinical applications.
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Yin et al. (2026) studied this question. MR elastography-based tissue strain mapping detects perilesional strain indicating active lesion expansion, outperforming conventional MRE in phantom and preliminary in vivo studies.
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