Diffusion Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Achilles tendon and Related Pathology: Qualitative & Quantitative Investigation

Abstract

Background: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is an MRI technique that has shown to be a very promising in facilitating the differentiation of subtle pathological changes within different tissue. However, to date, a conclusive physical basis for the signal contrast on DWI of the Achilles tendon (AT) is yet to be available in literature. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the diagnostic impact of echo planar DWI in distinguishing normal and abnormal AT using ADC mapping as a qualitative and quantitative assessment tool.