Magnetic Resonance Elastography as a Method to Estimate Stiffness of Soft Tissues (MRE)

Magnetic resonance elastography is a novel non-invasive MRI technique to obtain stiffness of soft tissues such as liver, heart, kidneys, etc. In this imaging technique a person is laid in an MR scanner and a paddle (plastic drum) is put on the area of interest to send sound vibration via a speaker placed outside the scan room which is connecting plastic drum via a plastic tube. These vibrations are scanned using MRI to estimate the stiffness of soft tissues such as liver, heart, kidneys, breast etc.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Heart Failure; Liver Fibrosis; Aortic Aneurysms; Cardiac Transplant Rejection

Detailed Description

Recently a new and novel noninvasive imaging-based technique known as Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) was developed that is capable of quantifying stiffness of soft tissues such as liver, spleen, kidney, heart brain, breast, aorta etc. In MRE a person is laid into an MR scanner which is similar to all MR scans. In addition, a drum (passive driver) is placed on the body (area close to the region of interest), which is connected by a long plastic tube that runs outside the scan room. This drum is tightly strapped by a Velcro to the body for better contact. Then the other end of the plastic tube is connected to an active driver that produces vibrations of frequencies in the range of 20Hz -2kHz. These frequencies of vibrations are transferred to the passive driver which produces vibrations on the body. These vibrations are tracked using MR scanner to produce wave images. A post-processing of these wave images are performed to obtain spatial stiffness maps. Currently, MRE is a clinical tool to assess hepatic fibrosis at many institutions. MRE is superior to many invasive techniques (i.e. biopsies, catheter based Pressure-Volume measurements) and mechanical testing in that it is noninvasive and can be performed in vivo under physiologic conditions. MRE could make stiffness widely available and could revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of numerous diseases affecting stiffness of soft tissues. For example in Liver: diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, liver tumors etc. Heart: diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction, myocardial infarction, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, contractility etc. Aorta: Aortic aneurysms, hypertension etc. This technology is completely noninvasive and the vibrational energy is way below the required standards. Previous experiences of these vibrations are like massaging the body. The risks of this research study are minimal, which means that we do not believe that they will be any different than what you would experience at a routine clinical visit or during your daily life. This study will not make participants' health better. It is for the benefit of research.The specific aim of this study is that MRE can be used as a noninvasive tool to diagnose different disease states in soft tissues. In this study we will be applying this technique in adult volunteers to test the feasibility and validation of the technique in different organs.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1000

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Arunark Kolipaka; Phone Number: 614-366-0268; Email: arunark.kolipaka@osumc.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Kristin L Thompson, B.S.; Phone Number: 614-366-5429; Email: Kristin.Thompson@osumc.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
      • Recruiting
      • The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
      • Contact: Kristin L Thompson, B.S.; Phone Number: 614-366-5429; Email: Kristin.Thompson@osumc.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Arunark Kolipaka, PhD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

1. You are 18 and over and affected by a certain disease condition such as Heart/Kidney/Lung/liver/spleen or aortic aneurysms or any other kind of diseases where stiffness of the soft tissue is thought to change.
2. You are 18 and over and a healthy volunteer and not affected by any of the conditions mentioned in #1 above.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Any participant 18 years or older and are MR safe.

Exclusion Criteria:

That study participants will be excluded if they have any unapproved metal in their bodies, or if the volunteers are pregnant or possible of becoming pregnant. Also if the participants are claustrophobic.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Altered Stiffness; Tissue stiffness will be evaluated in subjects those with disease conditions where stiffness changes from normal. These studies will be repeated for reproducibility.
Healthy Volunteers; Tissue stiffness will be evaluated in normal subjects to determine the normal values. These studies will be repeated for reproducibility.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Stiffness of soft tissues	Estimate any variation in stiffness	Participants will be followed for the duration of hospital stay, ecah clinical visit after discharge for an expected average up to 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Arunark Kolipaka
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Arunark Kolipaka, PhD, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Damughatla AR, Raterman B, Sharkey-Toppen T, Jin N, Simonetti OP, White RD, Kolipaka A. Quantification of aortic stiffness using MR elastography and its comparison to MRI-based pulse wave velocity. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2015 Jan;41(1):44-51. doi: 10.1002/jmri.24506. Epub 2013 Nov 15.
• Chamarthi SK, Raterman B, Mazumder R, Michaels A, Oza VM, Hanje J, Bolster B, Jin N, White RD, Kolipaka A. Rapid acquisition technique for MR elastography of the liver. Magn Reson Imaging. 2014 Jul;32(6):679-83. doi: 10.1016/j.mri.2014.02.013. Epub 2014 Feb 13.
• Kenyhercz WE, Raterman B, Illapani VS, Dowell J, Mo X, White RD, Kolipaka A. Quantification of aortic stiffness using magnetic resonance elastography: Measurement reproducibility, pulse wave velocity comparison, changes over cardiac cycle, and relationship with age. Magn Reson Med. 2016 May;75(5):1920-6. doi: 10.1002/mrm.25719. Epub 2015 Jun 12.
• Wassenaar PA, Eleswarpu CN, Schroeder SA, Mo X, Raterman BD, White RD, Kolipaka A. Measuring age-dependent myocardial stiffness across the cardiac cycle using MR elastography: A reproducibility study. Magn Reson Med. 2016 Apr;75(4):1586-93. doi: 10.1002/mrm.25760. Epub 2015 May 22.
• Moldovan L, Anghelina M, Kantor T, Jones D, Ramadan E, Xiang Y, Huang K, Kolipaka A, Malarkey W, Ghasemzadeh N, Mohler PJ, Quyyumi A, Moldovan NI. A module of human peripheral blood mononuclear cell transcriptional network containing primitive and differentiation markers is related to specific cardiovascular health variables. PLoS One. 2014 Apr 23;9(4):e95124. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095124. eCollection 2014. Erratum In: PLoS One. 2014;9(7):e104595.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 18, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 21, 2012
• First Posted (Estimated): December 31, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 24, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 23, 2023
• Last Verified: October 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Pathologic Processes; Cardiovascular Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Liver Diseases; Fibrosis; Aortic Diseases; Liver Cirrhosis; Aneurysm; Aortic Aneurysm
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2012H0027