What is elastography and what is its application?

What is elastography and what is its application? Examining the stiffness of the tissue has been one of the ways to diagnose the disease since thousands of years ago. Many diseases cause changes in the stiffness of body tissues, the most notable of which are cancer. In the past, these changes were checked by physical examination and manual touch. This examination method is quite easy for superficial body parts such as breasts. But it creates problems for deep members. ### **What is elastography?** Elastography is a new imaging technique that can show us the stiffness of the tissue in an image form. Simple two-dimensional ultrasound about organ structure, color Doppler ultrasound about blood flow and elastography give us information about the stiffness of the tissue. During the last several years, extensive research has been done in this field. The first clinically useful elastography system was registered in 2003, and after that, extensive research has been done on various diseases and its diagnostic importance. The basis of the technique used in this method is that the hard tissue does not change shape by applying mechanical pressure. **For more information on pregnancy ultrasounds, you can contact Dr. Seif's radiology and ultrasound center or visit the doctor's Instagram address. Dr. Saif's ultrasound center contact numbers: 88553310** ### **application of elastography** Initially, tensile elastography was developed and found clinical use. In this technique, tissue changes are checked against the application of an external force (either with a prop or through breathing or heartbeat). By applying an external force, harder tissues do not change their shape, while softer tissues change their shape. In all techniques based on tensile elastography, the amount of force used is uncertain and the exact amount of tissue stiffness cannot be measured quantitatively. Therefore, these techniques are qualitative. Despite this, the relative stiffness of tissues can be checked in a field of view. Based on this, semi-quantitative methods have been developed that compare the stiffness of the target tissue to the stiffness of the standard tissue in the same field of view. With this comparison, a specific ratio can be obtained that represents the relative stiffness of the target tissue. In general, this method is used to detect masses and malignancies in body organs, which is as follows: - Lesions in the thyroid - Cancer or mass in the prostate - Focal liver disease - Cysts and lumps in the breast - Spleen, pancreas, kidney diseases - Tumors of salivary glands, lymph nodes and testicles ### **The difference between ultrasound and elastography** Ultrasound is used to examine the breast, both in diagnostic and screening studies. However, breast elastography is a completely new ultrasound method that can provide us with additional diagnostic information in the evaluation of breast lesions. Ultrasound is correct and accurate in diagnosing thyroid nodules. But it has relatively little ability to distinguish between benign and malignant nodes. Elastography is a useful and valuable method in thyroid examination.