Shear Wave Elastography in Placental Assessment
Summary
Shear wave elastography is an ultrasound‐based technique that generates transverse mechanical waves within placental tissue and quantifies their propagation speed to infer local stiffness. By measuring the shear wave velocity and deriving the elastic modulus, this modality provides a non‐invasive, real‐time assessment of placental biomechanics. Variations in stiffness correlate with vascular remodelling, trophoblast invasion and extracellular matrix composition, making elastography a sensitive indicator of placental insufficiency, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction and abnormal placentation such as placenta accreta or previa. Embedded within routine sonographic protocols, shear wave elastography complements morphological and Doppler indices, offering quantitative biomarkers of placental maturation and function. Its portability, repeatability and operator‐assisted automation promise global applicability, particularly in low‐resource settings. Ongoing advances include two‐dimensional mapping, integration with three‐dimensional imaging and machine‐learning algorithms for standardised interpretation. Collectively, these developments herald a shift towards personalised monitoring of maternal–fetal health through objective evaluation of placental elasticity.
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Shear Wave Elastography in Placental Assessment publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in shear wave elastography in placental assessment across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Shear wave elastography: An ultrasound technique that generates and tracks transverse waves in tissue to measure stiffness.
Shear wave velocity (SWV): The speed at which induced shear waves propagate, directly related to tissue elasticity.
Elastic modulus: A quantitative measure of tissue stiffness, calculated from shear wave velocity and tissue density.
Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI): The method of using short, high‐intensity ultrasound pulses to generate shear waves within tissue.
Three‐dimensional power Doppler index (3D-PDI): A volumetric Doppler measure of blood flow engaging vessel volume, flow intensity and vascularisation to assess placental perfusion.
References
- Review of shear wave elastography in placental function evaluations. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine (2023).
- The Value of Ultrasonic Elastography in Detecting Placental Stiffness for the Diagnosis of Preeclampsia: A Meta-Analysis. Diagnostics (2023).
- Predictive value of placental real-time shear wave elastography combined with 3-dimensional power Doppler index for preeclampsia. Medicine (2024).
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