David Alexander Slater1,
Po-Wah So, Karthik Munikoti Prakash, Istvan Bodi2, Michel Modo3,
4, Flavio Dell'Acqua1, 5
1NATBRAINLAB,
Department of Neuroimaging, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry,
London, United Kingdom; 2Department of Clinical Neuropathology,
King's College Hospital, London, United Kingdom; 3McGowan
Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh,
PA, United States; 4Department of Radiology, University of
Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; 5NIHR Biomedical
Research Centre for Mental Health at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation
Trust, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom
Diffusion imaging of fixed human brain tissue has the potential to reveal neuroanatomical details at a scale that remains largely unexplored. Here we investigated how the optimisation of tissue sample preparation and imaging parameters can increase data quality. Our findings suggest that phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and specific concentrations of the contrast agent GD-DTPA have the potential to dramatically increase SNR-efficiency at short TE and TR. However, longer diffusion times also provide improved diffusion contrast and thus a balance is required between potential increases in SNR-efficiency and diffusion contrast. These findings may provide improved SNR, enhanced resolution and/or faster acquisitions.