This study, Study 1.1, is a prospective, observational, two-center, short- term cross-sectional study to assess the reproducibility and repeatability of a set of specified ultrasound-based quantitative imaging biomarkers. The primary focus will be on imaging biomarkers of the liver fibrosis component of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), rather than the steatosis or inflammation component. The rationale is that the fibrosis component is linked most closely to survival and other clinical outcomes. Study 1.1 will also collect data to explore vendor- or device-specific investigational biomarkers on other components of NAFLD such as steatosis and possibly inflammation. The data collected will be used to inform a decision of which of these biomarkers have sufficient precision to be advanced to NIMBLE Stage 2.
NIMBLE is a comprehensive, five-year collaborative effort to standardize, compare, validate, and advance the regulatory qualification of imaging and circulating biomarkers to diagnose and stage nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and to predict and assess response to therapeutic intervention (https://fnih.org/what-we-do/biomarkers-consortium/programs/nimble)