An improved nuclear magnetic resonance diffusion coefficient imaging method using an optimized pulse sequence.
Two-dimensional diffusion coefficient maps (images) of a carefully controlled diffusion phantom have been measured by a new diffusion imaging sequence using a 0.6-T whole-body nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) scanner having a gradient field strength of 2.5 mT/m. The free induction decay (FID) data for the diffusion coefficient images were collected by varying the duration of the readout gradient in the conventional two-dimensional Fourier imaging sequence. The experimental results obtained by the proposed NMR diffusion measurement technique indicate a close agreement with other previous measurements. The selection of optimum spin-echo time for maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in diffusion imaging is studied and also experimentally confirmed. Finally, a preclinical study with human volunteers has been performed and results are presented.
D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D008961:Models, Structural