Purchase of Fibroscan standalone liver elastography machine

The Trust required to purchase new standalone liver elastography machine.

The 'Fibroscan' is now the gold standard method to assess the degree of liver fibrosis in patients without the need for a biopsy and is used in clinical practice guidelines (including NICE) for many disorders such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In recent years, the number of patients being seen in the liver clinic with NAFLD has increased dramatically. This is most commonly related to being overweight. Patients with NAFLD are not only at risk of developing liver fibrosis but also are at risk of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. The new Fibroscan machines are able to measure the amount of fat within the liver with the CAP score (controlled attenuation parameter) to diagnose this without the need for biopsy. The standard 'M-probe' that the Fibroscan uses is often unable to take an accurate reading in patients who are very overweight. In these cases, the new 'XL-probe' is required to take the Fibroscan measurements.