Technical Validation of MR Biomarkers of Obesity-Associated NAFLD

The long-term objective of this research is to improve the health of the millions of Americans with or at risk for NAFLD, the most common chronic liver disease and most rapidly growing indication for liver transplantation in the United States. To achieve this objective, an advanced MR-based imaging method will be used to measure liver "stiffness" which is an early sign of disease. This technique has been previously developed and validated and ready to be used for further research. This current protocol will extend previous work by optimizing and validating advanced 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional-magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) methods as non-invasive biomarkers of hepatic inflammation and fibrosis in obese patients at risk for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the histologically more aggressive subset of NAFLD. Per Amendment approved 4/8/22: MRE exams will be conducted using a PDFF Pocket Phantom purchased by the UCSD from Calimetrix. This phantom consists of vials with known fat fraction which are captured when taking images of the liver. The known fat fractions provide an independent reference and are used for quality assurance purposes.