Liver disease is a major cause of death in the UK. Whilst mortality rates for other major illnesses - such as cancers, strokes and diabetes - are decreasing year on year, deaths from liver disease are rising. Between 2001 and 2012, the number of people who died with liver disease in England increased by a startling 40%. Within the past 10 years, deaths from alcoholic liver disease have doubled. It is a disease which can affect anyone and, with rising rates of alcohol consumption and obesity, an increasing number of people will be affected in the future.

This cutting edge scanner has been designed to assess liver disease in a non-invasive way, by scanning the stiffness of the liver and hence the degree of fibrosis. The alternative would be for the patient to undergo an ultrasound or CT scan or an invasive liver biopsy. There is nothing like this scanner currently being used to diagnose patients at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow.