In vivo liver shear wave motion detection and shear wave speed comparison between fundamental and harmonic imaging

Quantification of liver elasticity is a major application of shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) to non-invasively assess liver fibrosis stages. SWEI measurements can be highly affected by ultrasound image quality. Ultrasound harmonic imaging has shown a significant improvement in ultrasound image quality as well as for SWEI measurements. This has been previously demonstrated in cardiac SWEI. The purpose of this study was to evaluate liver shear wave motion detection and shear wave velocity (SWV) measurements with fundamental and harmonic ultrasound imaging. In a cohort of 14 subjects with no history of liver disease, a 2.5 fold increase in maximum shear wave motion and 0.08 m/s decreases in overall interquartile range and median of SWV, as well as a 14.3% increase in the success rate of SWV measurements was found when using harmonic imaging instead of fundamental imaging.