Relevance of time-dependence for clinically viable diffusion imaging of the spinal cord.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Time-dependence is a key feature of the diffusion-weighted (DW) signal, knowledge of which informs biophysical modelling. Here, we study time-dependence in the human spinal cord, as its axonal structure is specific and different from the brain.

Methods

We run Monte Carlo simulations using a synthetic model of spinal cord white matter (WM) (large axons), and of brain WM (smaller axons). Furthermore, we study clinically feasible multi-shell DW scans of the cervical spinal cord (b = 0; b = 711 s mm^-2 ; b = 2855 s mm^-2 ), obtained using three diffusion times (Δ of 29, 52 and 76 ms) from three volunteers.

Results

Both intra-/extra-axonal perpendicular diffusivities and kurtosis excess show time-dependence in our synthetic spinal cord model. Th

SUBMITTER: Grussu F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6586052 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature