Quantitative Ultrasound(DeepUSFF) vs MRI-PDFF for Liver Fat Assessment in MASLD

Description

Background: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a common liver disease requiring accurate assessment for treatment planning and monitoring. While liver biopsy remains the gold standard, it is invasive with potential complications. MRI-PDFF has emerged as an accurate non-invasive method, but it is expensive and has limited accessibility. Quantitative ultrasound techniques using RF data have been developed to provide objective liver fat assessment.

Objective: To prospectively evaluate the correlation between quantitative ultrasound-derived fat fraction (DeepUSFF) and MRI-PDFF in patients with suspected MASLD across different ethnicities and varying degrees of hepatic steatosis.

Methods: This prospective multicenter study will recruit 62 patients (31 from each participating center) suspected of having MASLD. All participants will undergo both quantitative ultrasound examination and non-contrast liver MRI within one week. The primary endpoint is the correlation coefficient between ultrasound fat fraction and MRI-PDFF. Secondary endpoints include diagnostic accuracy metrics and inter-observer reproducibility.