Abstract: Diseased tissue such as cirrhotic liver is differentiated from normal tissue by applying an ultrasound wave to the tissue, receiving backscattered ultrasound waves therefrom and bandpass filtering electrical signals generated from the backscattered wave. Assuming that the ultrasound wave has a spectrum and a center frequency, the bandpass is narrow relative to the spectrum and centered within the bounds of the spectrum of the ultrasound wave. The filtered signal will have an amplitude distribution for diseased tissue which is different from the amplitude distribution of normal tissue.