Edward S. Hui1,2, Steve H. Fung2,3,
Ed X. Wu1,4
1Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and
Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 2Department
of Radiology Research, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston,
TX, United States; 3Department of Radiology, Weill Medical College
of Cornell University, New York, United States; 4Department of
Electrical & Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong
Kong, Hong Kong
As
diffusion-weighted (DW) signal attenuation not only depends on diffusion
gradient strength but also the time separation between the 2 diffusion
gradients (Δ), it is important to examine the effect of Δ on the
kurtosis of the water displacement profile which could be estimated by a
recently proposed robust and efficient technique known as diffusion kurtosis
imaging (DKI). It quantifies the kurtosis of the water diffusion profile, by
acquiring DW signal at multiple b-values by varying the diffusion gradient
strength at fixed Δ. The effect of Δ on kurtosis has been studies
in vivo for the first time to assess its potential in teasing biological
information underlying neural microstructures.
Keywords