What’s actually inside your liver?
Most liver scans show a shape. A five-minute MRI can measure what’s inside it: the fat, the iron, and a number doctors watch.
The story
Most liver scans show a shape, in shades of grey. Perspectum’s point is that a picture isn’t a measurement. Its LiverMultiScan software takes a standard MRI of about five minutes, with no needle and no contrast dye, and turns it into colour maps of the whole liver. Three numbers come out: how much fat is in the liver, how much iron, and cT1, a measure Perspectum says doctors can use to diagnose liver disease and track whether treatment is working. The company, founded in partnership with the University of Oxford, grew out of a 2012 study showing that MRI could assess liver disease by measuring several things at once.
Three things to know
A picture of the liver isn’t a measurement. Some scans measure what’s inside it.
A contrast-free MRI of about five minutes, on standard Siemens, GE or Philips scanners, gives maps of liver fat, iron and cT1.
If your doctor is checking your liver, you can ask whether there is a scan that measures it, not just shows it.
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Made by motionfarm from public sources. For education only. Not medical advice.
