Sebastian Hirsch1,
Frauke Beyer1, Sebastian Papazoglou1, Jing Guo2,
Juergen Braun3, Ingolf Sack1
1Department
of Radiology, Charit - Universittsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 2Department
of Radiology, Charite - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 3Institute
of Medical Informatics, Charite - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Compressible phantoms comprising agarose gel with gas-filled cavities were examined by a rheometer device and MR Elastography (MRE). An effective medium model was used to explain the bulk modulus revealed by the rheometer. MRE was able to detect the relative order of compressibility in phantoms, while severely underestimating the absolute numbers of the bulk moduli. Numerical simulations revealed that compression MRE is sensitive to noise imposing the need of appropriate post-processing. In conclusion, MRE can measure compression properties of tissue, while a more noise-robust inversion method is required for quantitative measurements of bulk moduli.