Abstract #3655

Cerebrospinal Fluid Partial Volume Effects in Microscopic Fractional Anisotropy Imaging

Nico J. J. Arezza^1,2 and Corey A. Baron^1,2

¹Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, ON, Canada, ²Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, London, ON, Canada

Microscopic fractional anisotropy (μFA) quantifies diffusion anisotropy independent of fiber orientation, giving it high specificity to microstructure. However, it is underestimated in brain regions containing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) partial volumes. Here, we investigated two methods to reduce CSF partial volume effects: the free-water elimination method and a shifted kurtosis method. Compared to diffusion tensor imaging and diffusion kurtosis imaging, these techniques produced more accurate diffusivity estimates in simulations and higher μFA estimates in brain tissue. This preliminary work demonstrates the potential for CSF-suppressing techniques to improve μFA estimation in regions where CSF partial volume effects are prevalent.

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