Abstract #4754

A general framework to incorporate transcytolemmal water exchange in diffusion MRI-based microstructural imaging

Sisi Li¹, Diwei Shi², Li Chen², Quanshui Zheng², Hua Guo¹, and Junzhong Xu^3,4,5,6

¹Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, ²Center for Nano and Micro Mechanics, Department of Mechanics Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, ³Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁵Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁶Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

Synopsis

Quantitative microstructural imaging based on diffusion MRI provides a non-invasive means to measure microstructural parameters, e.g., cell size. However, due to the remarkable complexity of incorporating transcytolemmal water exchange into diffusion biophysical models, water exchange is usually ignored. This leads to biased estimation of microstructural parameters, particularly intracellular volume fraction. Here, we propose a new approach to incorporate water exchange naturally in diffusion biophysical models with arbitrary gradient waveforms, making it possible to fit cell size, density, and intracellular water lifetime simultaneously. This establishes a general framework to incorporate transcytolemmal water exchange in any diffusion MRI-based microstructural imaging models.

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