The effectiveness of manual palpation in detection of breast cancer is due, in part, to differences in elasticity between tumor and normal tissue. The tumor is stiffer because of its decreased quantity of lymph-vessels and increased vasculature permeability. Quantitation of this tissue characteristic may provide excellent contrast in distinguishing neoplastic tissue from non-neoplastic tissue. If a known stress is applied to a tissue, strain results within. Measurement of this displacement allows calculation of tissue elasticity. We have been actively investigating the use of phase-contrast MR as a means of obtaining displacement information for the calculation of Young's modulus. In-vitro phantoms of agarose have been composed of varying concentrations and geometric configurations to examine and develop the technique. Results appear encouraging with visualization of static strain throughout the phantoms. Quantitation of Young's modulus is possible at each voxel in a sample. Possible medical applications for this technique include examination of all diseases resulting in a change in elasticity of tissues (e.g. tumors, atherosclerosis, MI).