Early Detection of Tumor Treatment Response with Temporal Diffusion Spectroscopy

Daniel C. Colvin¹, Mary E. Loveless¹, Mark D. Does¹, Zou Yue¹, Thomas E. Yankeelov¹, John C. Gore¹

Temporal diffusion spectroscopy methods, which employ rapid oscillations of the motion sensitizing diffusion gradient, are capable of probing diffusion times orders of magnitude shorter than those typically achieved with conventional pulsed gradient methods. Consequently, the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measured with these methods may provide a more accurate assessment of tumor response to therapy due to their ability to detect structural variations over much shorter length scales. Results in a 9L tumor model in rats in vivo demonstrate that these methods can detect variations in ADC within 24 hours of chemotherapeutic treatment, when conventional methods showed no such change.