Quantitative assessment of liver fibrosis using shore durometer

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the present study was to investigate whether hardness of liver surface correlated with degree of liver fibrosis, and its association with posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF).MethodsA shore durometer was used to measure hepatic hardness in 41 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in 10 patients with normal liver. We investigated how hepatic hardness correlates with various values indicating the degree of liver fibrosis, and how it correlates with PHLF.ResultsIn the normal liver group, the surface shore units (SU) was 15.06 ± 2.64. In the HCC group, there was a correlation between surface SU and preoperative results indicating liver fibrosis. Among patients with PHLF after resecting over 3 segments, the surface SU of patients with grade A PHLF was 21.85 ± 5.63, and the surface SU of patients with grade C PHLF was 35.75 ± 9.26. In patients with PHLF after resecting 2 or less segments, the surface SU of patients with PHLF grade A was 20.95 ± 5.18, and the surface SU of patients with PHLF grade B was 31.60 ± 5.57. In predicting PHLF, surface SU was more effective than preoperative platelet count, spleen volume, or liver fibrosis index.ConclusionHepatic hardness measured by the shore durometer was correlated with the degree of liver fibrosis. Liver surface SU was a more effective parameter for predicting PHLF, as compared to other indicators evaluated before hepatectomy. The decision to perform major hepatectomy should be reconsidered in cases with a liver surface SU of >30.

A Prototyping of Penile Tumescence Continuous Observation Device

“…This soft silicone material, when fully vulcanized, has hardness of about 30 measured by Shoer type-00 durometer. This is very close to the known hardness of biological soft tissues [18,19], and mechanical behavior matching the phenomena to be tested is expected. Figure 5 shows the close-up view.…”

Glenohumeral joint capsular tissue tension loading correlates moderately with shear wave elastography: a cadaveric investigation

“…A durometer measures a material's hardness or resistance to deformation by applying an indentation load on the specimen, giving a measure of tissue hardness based on an arbitrary Shore unit (HA) [30,31]. Durometers have been used in various medical applications, such as in dermatology [32,33] and for measurements of organ [34][35][36], breast [37], and muscle [38] tissue. The intrarater and inter-rater reliability measures of durometer measurements of epidermal tissue were good to excellent [32,33].…”

Adaptive energy shaping control of robotic needle insertion

“…In summary, the simulation results and the experiments suggest that Controller 2 is preferable to Controller 1 for the softer phantom (Shore A = 1, representative of breast tissues [39]). The results for the harder phantom (Shore A = 10, representative of liver tissues [38]) highlight a trade-off which is related to the underactuated nature of system (2). In particular, Controller 1 achieves the prescribed insertion depth at the cost of a larger needle deflection, while Controller 2 stops the insertion at a shorter depth but reduces the needle deflection.…”

“…Silicone rubber has been widely used to investigate needle insertions [37] since it has mechanical properties similar to those of soft tissues. In particular, Shore A = 10 is representative of liver tissues [38], while Shore A = 1 is representative of breast tissues [39]. Nevertheless, silicone rubber phantoms represent only a simplified approximation of physiological tissues, which are characterized by complex internal structures, such as blood vessels.…”