FCI Effectiveness in NAFLD Stratification (FIELDS)

March 26, 2026 updated by: NHS Grampian

Field-Cycling Imaging Effectiveness in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Stratification

The goal of this pilot study is exploring whether field-cycling imaging may be able to detect characteristics of liver disease in patients with different degree of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that could be important in reflecting disease progression.

Study Overview

Status

Withdrawn

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) encompasses a spectrum of diseases extending from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Currently, there is a pressing unmet clinical need to develop an effective non-invasive method to differentiate between different types of NAFLD and to support the initiation and monitoring of treatments designed to slow or halt progression of the disease.

Field-cycling imaging (FCI) is an innovative imaging technology pioneered at the University of Aberdeen. It has the ability to image human tissues non-invasively over a wide range of magnetic field strengths, directly informing on multi-scale tissue structure from nanometres to micrometres. This is not possible with traditional MRI. The potential of FCI in imaging NAFLD is particularly promising, due to its high sensitivity in quantifying and distinguishing protein content from fat.

The purpose of this pilot study is exploring whether FCI may be able to detect characteristics of liver disease, in patients with different degree of steatohepatitis and NAFLD, that could be important in reflecting progression of steatosis to liver fibrosis and HCC thereby potentially offering new diagnostic information that cannot be readily obtained with currently available imaging techniques.

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United Kingdom
      • Aberdeen, United Kingdom, AB25 2ZN
        • Aberdeen Royal Infirmary

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants with a diagnosis of NAFLD
  • Participants must be aged 18 and above
  • Participants who meet the safety criteria for undergoing an MRI scan
  • Participants who are able to fit inside the scanner
  • Participants must be able to give fully informed consent
  • Participants must be mobile enough to be positioned onto the FCI scanner couch

Exclusion Criteria:

  • MRI-incompatible conditions, as detected in the MRI safety screening sheet
  • Participants under 18 years old
  • Participants who are unable to communicate in English
  • Participants who are unable to give fully informed consent
  • Women who are pregnant
  • Restrictions to mobility that would prevent the correct positioning in the scanner
  • Participants who suffer from claustrophobia

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: NAFLD
Participants with different degree of steatohepatitis and NAFLD will undergo one FCI scan.
Device: Field-cycling imaging (FCI)
FCI scan

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Differentiation of NAFLD types, from steatosis to liver fibrosis, assessed by Field-Cycling Imaging (FCI) scan
Time Frame: At baseline
Validation of FCI T1 dispersion profiles as a non-invasive technology to map out structural information on NAFLD that is not available by standard methods, by distinguishing protein content from fat, with application for medical research.
At baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
NAFLD progression assessed by Field-Cycling Imaging (FCI) T1 dispersion profiles of liver tissue
Time Frame: At baseline
Exploring the effectiveness of FCI T1 dispersion profiles of liver protein content, fat content, and fibrotic tissue in participants with NAFLD as a method for non-invasive assessment of disease progression.
At baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

NHS Grampian

Collaborators

University of Aberdeen

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ashis Mukhopadhya, Dr, NHS Grampian

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

March 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

March 26, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 10, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 21, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

April 25, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 26, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 1-100-22

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Clinical Trials on Field-cycling imaging (FCI)

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Papua New Guinea

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe