IP Requirement: Emory IP

Experience Requirement:

– Mechanical Design

– Rapid Prototyping

About five million people in the United States have end-stage liver disease, known as cirrhosis, which is progressive fibrosis, or stiffness, of the liver to the point that the fibrosis is no longer reversible with medications or lifestyle modifications. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is on track to become one of the leading causes of cirrhosis in the United States and globally. As a result, MASH will become one of the most common indications for liver transplant in the next few years. Due to the large public health and economic consequences of MASH, there is focus on identifying steatotic liver disease early in its course before patients develop cirrhosis. 

Current guidelines suggest that patients with metabolic risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, should undergo initial risk assessment with labs. Based on the results, further evaluation with non-invasive testing, such as transient elastography or magnetic resonance elastography, can be used to determine the level of stiffness of the liver. However, non-invasive testing techniques may be challenging to schedule, given scheduling constraints across hospital systems, or access, especially in low-resource settings. As a result, steatotic liver disease is underdiagnosed. While standard ultrasounds can detect steatotic liver disease, their sensitivity is low, so elastography has been the preferred method for further evaluation. Nonetheless, there may be clinical benefit in identifying point-of-care ultrasound techniques that could be used for quick, early detection of steatotic liver disease by assessing the echogenicity of the liver. These techniques could be used by any provider at a routine clinic visit for patients with metabolic risk factors and could serve as a gateway to facilitating further work-up.

The goal of this project is to develop an ultrasound mode or software that can identify findings associated with steatotic liver disease using standard ultrasound techniques. The implications of having a resource in clinic to be used for at-risk patients include eliminating scheduling and financial barriers from initial screening and screening a much larger population leading to earlier diagnosis and management.