Mapping complex tissue architecture with diffusion spectrum magnetic resonance imaging

Methods are presented to map complex fiber architectures in tissues by imaging the 3D spectra of tissue water diffusion with MR. First, theoretical considerations show why and under what conditions diffusion contrast is positive. Using this result, spin displacement spectra that are conventionally phase-encoded can be accurately reconstructed by a Fourier transform of the measured signal's modulus. Second, studies of in vitro and in vivo samples demonstrate correspondence between the orientational maxima of the diffusion spectrum and those of the fiber orientation density at each location. In specimens with complex muscular tissue, such as the tongue, diffusion spectrum images show characteristic local…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: MH64044