Low b‐value diffusion‐weighted imaging: Emerging applications in the body

Abstract

Thanks to recent advances in magnetic resonance imaging technology, it has become possible to perform intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in any part of the body. Extracranial applications of DWI are currently under active investigation, especially for oncological imaging. However, the use of non-quantitative low b-value (10-100 s/mm 2 ) DWI in the body is still a relatively unexplored field, and its potential is not fully recognized. Non-quantitative low b-value DWI may especially be useful for the evaluation of structures that have an inherently low signal at high b-value DWI, including (but not limited to) the liver, heart, and small bowel. This article will review and discuss the basic principles and potential applications of nonquantitative low b-value DWI in the body.

Microvascular invasion in small hepatocellular carcinoma: Is it predictable with preoperative diffusion‐weighted imaging?

“…In addition, we did not use high b‐values because of the diminished image quality, and overestimation of the ADCs by including the perfusion fraction was possible, which resulted in the relatively higher ADC cut‐off value compared with the literature . However, DWI obtained with low or intermediate b‐values(500 s/mm 2 ) favors the detection of small lesions …”

Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion weighted MRI of cervical cancer — Correlated with tumor differentiation and perfusion

“…But the problem of the mono-exponential model is that water molecules moving within blood flow in microcirculation can be confused with water diffusion and may result in errors in quantitative analysis. Therefore some attempts have been made to separate the perfusion and diffusion part of DWI 2, 3 . Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) MR imaging is such a tool which was first described by Le Bihan et al 4 .…”

Dose-dependent white matter damage after brain radiotherapy

“…Low b-value imaging [16] and other DTI methods that are sensitive to water diffusion in the extracellular space have revealed biologic processes involved in white matter maturation [17] and the role of increased extracellular volume and neuroinflammation in schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease [18,19]. Therefore, techniques preferentially probing intra-axonal or extracellular environments have improved our understanding of disease-specific biological changes in the brain.…”