New elastography advance ‘could improve visibility for surgeons’

A new breakthrough in elastography research has been made by UK scientists, representing a potentially important new advance for surgeons.

Traditional elastography creates displacement in tissue by inducing a distortion that sends a shear wave through the tissue, or by vibrating the surface of the tissue. By contrast, The Technology Partnership's approach uses a new process called passive elastography.

With this method, normal physiological distortions – such as those created by the heartbeat, breathing or blood vessel contractions – are harnessed instead, with ultrasound monitoring used to see how they affect the tissue.

By looking at the stiffness of tissue, it is easier to tell cancerous or diseased cells from healthy ones, making it simpler to treat conditions like cancer and atrial fibrillation. The technique can also be adapted to measure the level of muscle contraction.

Paul Galluzzo of The Technology Partnership said: "Ultimately the goal is to reduce the number of re-interventions, reduce mortality rates and accelerate procedure times for all blind medical procedures."