Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by excessive lipids in the liver in the absence of a secondary cause such as alcohol consumption. Currently, the global prevalence of NAFLD is 25.4% and is likely to increase in the upcoming years due to the rising prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and high blood cholesterol levels. This rise in prevalence demands a quicker and easier method for visualizing the lipid distribution in liver to diagnose NAFLD.
Excessive fat in the liver can create scarring and ultimately lead to liver failure and cancer. Liver biopsy findings of >5% macrovesicular steatosis is currently the mainstay for the diagnosis of NAFLD, but it is an invasive and slow diagnostic tool with more risk of sampling errors. Researchers from the Tokyo University of Science have come up with a non-invasive, label-free, quantitative modality utilizing near-infrared…
