Magnetic Field Gradients and Their Effects on the Diffusion Tensor Derivate Measures

Abstract

Abstract. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and the degree of diffusion weighting of the sequence, expressed as the bfactor, are used to investigate the effect of the magnetic field gradients on the integrity of white matter in patients with temporal intracerebral hemorrhage. The healthy patients are the gold standard. The present study investigated the changes of mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in a brain hemisphere approach to understand the effect of magnetic field gradients on the brain hemorrhage investigation. The artifacts induced by diffusion gradients in diffusion tensor imaging affect the accuracy of the investigation, and in order to achieve the optimal image quality, strong magnetic field gradients are recommended. The artifact effect of higher magnetic field gradients is analyzed by means of the root-mean-square FA and MD difference between left and right brain hemispheres.