Liver palpation is one of the essential procedures for patients undergoing a hepatological examination.

In fact, in both clinical practice and surgery, it is well known that a cirrhotic liver is firmer than a healthy liver. However, this manual assessment of the stiffness of the liver is subjective and remains vague as the doctor only makes a distinction between three stages: soft, firm and stiff.

Ultrasound elastography offers a number of advantages. It is easy to use and inexpensive. The acquisition speed is very high (less than one tenth of a second per acquisition) and, therefore, the acquisitions are not biased by cardiac or respiratory movements.

Once the probe is positioned correctly, the measurement is fully automated and independent from the operator.

Read all about the new FibroScan installation at Frenchay Hospital on the BBC website. Click here to read it.

The FibroScan provides an instantaneous, totally non-invasive assessment of hepatic fibrosis.

It allows regular monitoring of hepatic fibrosis and enables the efficacy of anti-fibrosis treatments to be assessed.

Additionally, the FibroScan has a high capacity of discrimination and can measure the varying degrees of cirrhosis.