This white paper presents a clinical study on the role of ElastoScan™ (strain elastography) in combination with magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) in evaluating patients with Crohn’s disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disease.
Thirty-five patients with previously diagnosed Crohn’s disease underwent both ultrasound strain elastography (US-SE) and MRE using T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). The goal was to assess whether these imaging modalities could help distinguish fibrotic from edematous/inflammatory changes in the bowel wall and mesenteric fat — a key factor in determining appropriate treatment strategies.
ElastoScan™ generated real-time color-coded strain maps (blue for fibrosis, green for edema). MRI provided quantitative comparisons via signal intensity and ADC (apparent diffusion coefficient) values. The study found statistically significant correlations between the US-SE color scale and MRI findings:
Fibrotic tissue: blue on US-SE, low T2 signal, high ADC
Inflammatory tissue: green on US-SE, high T2 signal, low ADC
Though US-SE showed qualitative limitations (3 cases misclassified), it proved useful in identifying fibrotic changes when MRI was not readily available. The study concludes that ElastoScan™ is a valuable complementary tool to MRI, particularly for monitoring disease progression and supporting therapeutic decisions in Crohn’s disease.
