Technical Foundation of Magnetic Resonance Elastography in the Peripheral Nervous System

Motivation: Imaging of peripheral nerves becomes increasingly important. 2D-US-Elastography has delivered first interesting yet possibly biased results regarding altered biomechanics in nerve disorders. Goal(s): To test the feasibility of MRE to examine peripheral nerves and obtain reliable, unbiased results. Approach: An agar gel nerve phantom and sciatic nerve specimen were examined with 2D-MRE in optimized conditions (planar shear wave propagation). To verify the correctness of the obtained results, 3D-MRE of the phantom's components was performed and the setup was numerically simulated. Results: In optimized conditions 2D-MRE delivered correct biomechanical parameters for the nerve phantom and gave a first estimate of nerval stiffness in specimen. Impact: MRE is feasible in peripheral nerves and 2D-MRE delivers correct biomechanical information in optimized in-vitro examination conditions, thus serving as built-up for optimization of 3D-MRE in peripheral nerves and clinical translation.