Comparison of adipocyte size measurements with histology and high b-value diffusion-weighted spectroscopy in human white adipose tissue at 3 T

Despite its high relevance in metabolic research, the non-invasive measurement of adipocyte size remains an unmet need. DW-MRS has been previously applied to probe diffusion restriction effects in-vivo to measure lipid droplets in animals up to diameters of 10 µm and in humans up to diameters of 50 µm. However, probing diffusion restriction in white adipose tissue, consisting of adipocytes up to a size of 150 µm, on a clinical system remains a major challenge. This work proposes to measure adipocyte sizes with high b-value long diffusion time DW-MRS. In a preliminary analysis, the presented method matches with histology.