[Elastography, the new dimension in ultrasonography].

Inflammation and neoplasia lead to an alteration of the normal tissue structure causing hardening of the tissue and an alteration of its elasticity. The elasticity modulus is a measure of the stress which is applied to tissue structures relative to the strain or deformation produced. Acute inflammation (softer tissue) will be compressed more than harder (neoplastic) tissue under the same pressure. This different deformation can be detected from the ultrasound data, analysed (autocorrelation) and displayed similar to a conventional Colour Doppler examination colour overlay of the conventional B-Mode image. In the following article elastographic applications are discussed.