Many pulmonary diseases alter lung mechanical properties making lung stiffness an important biomarker. By using a Spin-Echo Echo Planar Imaging (SE-EPI) MRE sequence, a feasibility study was performed on 6 indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPN) patients to determine the shear stiffness within the nodule and compare it with stiffness in the contralateral lung. It was found that in all the patients the median shear stiffness within the IPN was significantly higher than in the contralateral lung (1.77kPa vs 0.86kPa, p=0.008) Computational models based on MRE stiffness measurements also indicate decreased strain and increased strain gradients within the IPN.
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