An imaging-based quantitative biomarker assay for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children: a feasibility study

This study will validate recently developed Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Ultrasound (US) based methods for liver fat quantification in children with obesity and healthy range of body mass index (BMI, controls). These methods have enormous potential to enable risk stratification, treatment monitoring, and treatment optimization in the context of the world-wide obesity epidemic and emerging therapies. This multi-disciplinary investigative team will determine the performance of MRI- and US-based fat quantification in approximately 24 children and obtain essential preliminary data to secure extramural funding for definitive validation of these methods.