Morphological study of the liver using local rate of uptake analysis.

Four types of liver functional images were obtained by calculating for each point on an image matrix the local uptake rate, the local uptake transit time, the point's own maximum and the time necessary to attain the maximum. The study was based on 52 cases: 21 controls and 31 cases of hepatic disease. The controls showed a homogeneous spread of colloidal substance on the images of local uptake rate and local transit time, despite variations in liver tissue thickness. In the cases of parenchymal lesions revealed by deficient uptake on standard images, local variations of uptake rate were almost always shown even in instances where the standard images showed minimal variation. This technique therefore would seem to bring additional diagnostic assistance by permitting a better appreciation of liver morphology and function and the processing time required (approx. 1.5 min.) does not necessitate an increase in overall examination time.