Ultrasound Imaging Biomarkers of Crohn's Disease

What To Know

This NIH-funded project describes development and validation of a multiparametric ultrasound imaging approach (B-mode, Advanced Microvessel Imaging Technology, Echo Statistical Features) to characterize inflammation and fibrosis in Crohn's disease.

The study plans technical development, a pathology-correlated cohort (≈80 patients) for inflammation and fibrosis comparisons using surgical pathology as the reference standard, a longitudinal treatment-response cohort (≈100 patients) with imaging at baseline, week 6 and month 6 compared to MRI, and a reproducibility study (≈45 patients) to assess inter- and intra-sonographer variability.

The project aims to integrate the solution onto clinical ultrasound platforms (GE Logiq E10 and Verasonics 3D) and to evaluate ROC analyses, correlations with pathology scores, and the ability of early ultrasound changes to predict 6-month treatment outcomes.

The planned work is a funded research project (NIH Reporter project page) and describes study design, cohorts, planned imaging timepoints, and analytical approaches rather than reporting completed results.

If completed as described, the work could expand access to a radiation-free, lower-cost imaging biomarker for routine monitoring and for predicting therapy response in Crohn's disease. However, these are planned aims and not findings; clinical utility will depend on study results and external validation.