Monte-Carlo Simulation Software Dedicated to Diffusion Weighted MR Experiments in Neural Media

Chun-Hung Yeh^1,2, Denis Le Bihan¹, Jing-Rebecca Li¹, Jean-Francois Mangin¹, Ching-Po Lin², Cyril Poupon¹

We develop a novel Monte-Carlo simulation tool dedicated to DW MR experiments by combining a Brownian dynamics simulator capable of simulating water diffusion in arbitrary geometries reproduced using meshes with a DW signal integrator emulating various MR pulse sequences. Complicated configurations mimicking neural tissue components (e.g. neurons) can be emulated, as well as tissue features (e.g. membrane permeability) and basic diffusion mechanisms in different compartments. This framework allows to bridge the gap between elementary processes and the resulting DW signal, providing a better understanding of the features observed in DW-MRI (e.g. ADC), and to optimize acquisition schemes for different applications.