Nathan White1, Joshua Kuperman1, Carrie McDonald2, Nikdokht Farid1, Santosh Kasari3, Ajit Shankaranarayanan4, Anders Dale1, 5
1Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States; 2Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States; 3Department of Neuro-Oncology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States; 4GE Healthcare, Inc; 5Department of Neuroscience, University of California, San Diego
Diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) offers a unique perspective on tumor pathology by probing the microscopic diffusion properties of neoplastic tissue at the cellular and subcellular level. In this study, we evaluate the utility of a newly developed advanced DW-MRI approach called Restriction Spectrum Imaging (RSI) to probe tumor microenvironments in terms of a spectrum of hindered and restricted water compartments. We derive a cellularity index using the spherically restricted spectral components and demonstrate its improved sensitivity and specificity in identifying tumor vs. healthy tissue in patients with glioblastoma multiform (GBM) compared to the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC).
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