Abstract #1359

Evaluation of the Effect of Exchange on the Diffusion Weighted MR-Signal in Brain White Matter

Els Fieremans^1,2, Yves De Deene^2,3, Jens H. Jensen¹, Joseph A. Helpern¹

¹Department of Radiology, CBI, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; ²Department of Electronics and Information Systems, MEDISIP, Ghent University-IBBT-IBiTech, Ghent, Belgium; ³Department of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, QMRI, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

The origin of the anisotropic diffusion weighted (DW) MR-signal observed in brain white matter (WM) is still not completely understood. In this study, Monte Carlo simulations of diffusion are presented in a geometry imitating the white matter. The effect of exchange between the intracellular and extracellular compartment on the DW MR signal has been evaluated. The results show that the diffusion kurtosis is a good probe for the presence of membranes and is sensitive to changes in permeability. Fitting the kurtosis could reveal new insights in the physiology of cells during pathological states.