Will a big needle burst the NASH bubble?

There's one surefire way to diagnose a liver disease that, by some estimates, affects tens of millions of Americans — and it uses a giant needle.

Liver biopsy is considered the gold standard for detecting nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, an illness where fat built up in the liver causes swelling, scarred tissue and, in severe cases, cirrhosis. Yet concerns are growing that without better diagnostic tools, many patients won't gain access to NASH drugs for years to come.