Table 2.
Characteristics of elastography.
| Elastography | Technique | Advantages | Disadvantages | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US elastography | Static strain imaging | Real-time imaging with elastogram which can distinguish a tumor from background tissue. | Variability due to inconsistent compression (heartbeat). Semi-quantification | [16,17] |
| 1D transient elastography | The most widely used and validated. | Needs special equipment. Lacking B-mode |
[10,11,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25] | |
| Point shear wave elastography | Controllable ROI | Small ROI. Needs high-end US apparatus | [12,13] | |
| 2D shear wave elastography | Controllable ROI. Real-time imaging |
Needs high-end US apparatus | [14] | |
| MRI elastography | Assessment of whole liver | Needs special equipment Not indicated to patients with claustrophobia |
[26,27,28] |
Abbreviation: US, ultrasound; B-mode, brightness-mode; ROI, region of interest; 1D, one dimensional; 2D, two dimensional.