Gene Young Cho1, Eric E. Sigmund1,
Sungheon Kim1, Jens H. Jensen1, Daniel K. Sodickson1
1Center for Biomedical Imaging,
Radiology, NYU
Diffusion-weighted
imaging (DWI) can be sensitized to both tissue structure and microvascular
flow in tumors. Capillary networks can present intravoxel-incoherent motion
(IVIM), creating a pseudodiffusion coefficient that tracks microvascular
flow. A versatile flow phantom was constructed for IVIM validation in a full
body 3T scanner. This system allows technique optimization for ongoing
IVIM-based studies of in vivo tumor pathologies. Biexponential analysis of
DWI showed an increase in pseudodiffusivity with increasing flow and a
decrease with increased impedance, simulating relevant microvascular
processes. Spatial mapping of the IVIM coefficients showed strong contrast
between pseudodiffusion and background diffusion. Future applications are
discussed.