What is "elastography"

n. (context medicine English) A method of detection or classification of tumors based on stiffness or elasticity of tissue.

Elastography is a medical imaging modality that maps the elastic properties of soft tissue. The main idea is that whether the tissue is hard or soft will give diagnostic information about the presence or status of disease. For example, cancerous tumours will often be harder than the surrounding tissue, and diseased livers are stiffer than healthy ones.

The most prominent techniques use ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to make both the stiffness map and an anatomical image for comparison. Tactile imaging composed from acquired stress-strain data reveals elasticity and anatomical features.