Introduction: White matter fiber “tractography” from diffusion MRI data is widely used in the neuroscience community and in clinical research setting to investigate white matter pathways in the human brain. Diffusion weighted images (DWIs) are generally acquired with echo planar (EPI), and suffer from concomitant field [1] and susceptibility related geometrical distortions in the phase encode d...

The primary aim of this work is to propose and investigate the effectiveness of a novel unsupervised tissue clustering and classification algorithm for diffusion tensor MRI (DTI) data. The proposed algorithm utilizes information about the degree of homogeneity of the distribution of diffusion tensors within voxels. We adapt frameworks proposed by Hext and Snedecor, where the null hypothesis of ...

OBJECTIVE We examine the clinical impetus for whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI and discuss how to implement the technique with clinical MRI systems. We include practical tips and tricks to optimize image quality and reduce artifacts. The interpretative pitfalls are enumerated, and potential challenges are highlighted. CONCLUSION Whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI can be used for tumor staging...

Introduction: Recently, multiple approaches have been proposed to perform motion correction for diffusion imaging using optical tracking with cameras [1,2] or using MR-based methods which perform real-time registration between volumes [3-5]. In this study, we demonstrate the application of and compare both optical and MR-based motion correction to high-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging usin...

Objective : The aim of this study was to analyse the efficacy of Diffusion Weighted MR Imaging (DWI) and Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) mapping in the diagnosis of meniscal tears in the knee. Conclusion : DWI and ADC mapping technique are fast and easily applicable with routine MRI sequences and these new MRI techniques (for the knee) depicts very important information for menisci and car...

Simultaneous multi-slice acquisition with CAIPIRINHA reduces the scan time in diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. In this article, we resume our early experience with this technique for accelerated diffusion tensor imaging of skeletal muscle [1].

The significant advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) hardware and software, sequence design, and postprocessing methods have made diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) an important part of body MRI protocols and have fueled extensive research on quantitative diffusion outside the brain, particularly in the oncologic setting. In this review, we summarize the most up-to-date information on DWI...

Here, M is the magnetization of an excited sample placed in a static magnetic field B0, γ is the gyromagnetic ratio, Mx, My, Mz are the components of magnetization in the x, y and z directions, M0 is the magnetization at thermal equilibrium, T1 and T2 are the longitudinal and transverse relaxation times and D is the diffusion coefficient. The first two terms of Equation 1 are the original Bloch...

Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is a method of signal contrast generation based on the differences in Brownian motion. DWI is a method to evaluate the molecular function and micro-architecture of the human body. DWI signal contrast can be quantified by apparent diffusion coefficient maps and it acts as a tool for treatment response evaluation and assessment of disease progression. Ability to d...

We describe and evaluate a pre-processing method based on a periodic spiral sampling of diffusion-gradient directions for high angular resolution diffusion magnetic resonance imaging. Our pre-processing method incorporates prior knowledge about the acquired diffusion-weighted signal, facilitating noise reduction. Periodic spiral sampling of gradient direction encodings results in an acquired si...