Nowadays, the medical imaging modality of elastography can also be used to determine the stiffness of tissues.
Manual palpation suffers from several important limitations: it is limited to tissues accessible to the physician's hand, it is distorted by any intervening tissue, and it is qualitative but not quantitative.
Elastography is able to overcome many these challenges and improve on the benefits of palpation.

Elastography is a relatively new technology and entered the clinic primarily in the last decade.
The most prominent techniques use ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to make both the stiffness map and an anatomical image for comparison.
Nowadays, the medical imaging modality of elastography can also be used to determine the stiffness of tissues. Manual palpation suffers from several important limitations: it is limited to tissues accessible to the physician's hand, it is distorted by any intervening tissue, and it is qualitative but not quantitative. Elastography is able to overcome many these challenges and improve on the benefits of palpation.
Elastography is a relatively new technology and entered the clinic primarily in the last decade. The most prominent techniques use ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to make both the stiffness map and an anatomical image for comparison.
Palpation