At the Hoag Digestive Health institute, we’re committed to giving every patient the understanding, care and treatment options we’d want for ourselves or a family member facing a serious illness.
Conditions involving the liver often don’t present symptoms until serious damage has already been done. That’s why you need a fully-integrated and experienced liver team with the tools and techniques to spot subtle signs, and the next-generation technology to make an accurate diagnosis fast.
At Hoag, some of the advanced diagnostic imaging techniques we use include:
FibroScan®, (AKA transient elastography), which is the first FDA-approved device in the U.S. that provides a painless, non-invasive method of testing for liver scarring without the side effects and complications of a needle biopsy. Learn more about FibroScan®
Hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) scanning, which is an advanced imaging technique which utilizes an injected radioactive tracer to diagnosis issues with the liver, gallbladder and bile ducts. Learn more about HIDA scanning.
Attenuation Imaging (ATI) for Fat Quantification, which is an imaging technique used for quantifying fat deposition in the liver in real time
Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), which utilizes powerful magnetic fields, radio waves and advanced computing to evaluate the gallbladder, liver, bile ducts, pancreas and pancreatic duct for disease, without the use of ionizing radiation
Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE), which is used to detect stiffening of the liver caused by scarring and inflammation. This technology combines MRI imaging with low-frequency vibrations to create a visual map called an elastogram that shows the degree of stiffness of body tissues. Learn more about MRE.
Magnetic Resonance Multi-Echo Dixon Vibe Liver Iron Quantification, which is a 3D imaging technique used to simultaneously assess fatty liver disease and abnormal iron levels in patients with chronic liver disease.
Magnetic Resonance Proton Density Fat Fraction (MRI-PDFF), which is an emerging imaging technique that accurately measures the amount of fat in liver tissue by correcting factors that can degrade or skew magnetic resonance signal intensity