Diagnosis of hepatic steatosis using H-scan ultrasound imaging and texture analysis

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide. Advances in noninvasive tests would help identify and monitor patients with NAFLD in the clinical setting. H-scan ultrasound (US) imaging is a noninvasive approach for soft tissue characterization. The goal of this research was to evaluate use of H-scan US imaging and texture analysis for differentiating normal from steatotic livers in human. Clinical imaging was performed in nine patients using the EPIQ 7 US system equipped with a C5-1 curvilinear transducer (Philips Healthcare). Hepatic steatotic grade was determined using magnetic resonance imaging-derived proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) measurements. H-scan US image reconstruction and texture analysis was done using standard processing techniques and custom MATLAB software (MathWorks Inc, Natick, MA). A comparison of mean H-scan US image intensity from normal and steatotic livers revealed a significant difference (p = 0.03). H-scan US image-derived texture features also revealed a significant difference between some parameters (p < 0.03). A comparison of select texture features to MRI-PDDF values revealed a linear correlation (R
²
= 0.53, p = 0.03). These findings indicate that H-scan US and image-derived texture features can differentiate normal from steatotic livers.