Dynamic diffusion tensor measurements in muscle tissue using Single Line Multiple Echo Diffusion Tensor Acquisition Technique at 3T

摘要

When diffusion biomarkers display transient changes, i.e. in muscle following exercise, traditional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) methods lack temporal resolution to resolve the dynamics. This paper presents an MRI method for dynamic diffusion tensor acquisitions on a clinical 3T scanner. This method, SL-MEDITATE (Single Line Multiple Echo Diffusion Tensor Acquisition Technique) achieves a high temporal resolution (4s) (1) by rapid diffusion encoding through the acquisition of multiple echoes with unique diffusion sensitization and (2) by limiting the readout to a single line volume. The method is demonstrated in a rotating anisotropic phantom, in a flow phantom with adjustable flow speed, and in in vivo skeletal calf muscle of healthy volunteers following a plantar flexion exercise. The rotating and flow-varying phantom experiments show that SL-MEDITATE correctly identifies the rotation of the first diffusion eigenvector and the changes in diffusion tensor parameter magnitudes, respectively. Immediately following exercise, the in vivo mean diffusivity (MD) time-courses show, before the well-known increase, an initial decrease which is not typically observed in traditional DTI. In conclusion, SL-MEDITATE can be used to capture transient changes in tissue anisotropy in a single line. Future progress might allow for dynamic DTI when combined with appropriate k-space trajectories and compressed sensing reconstruction.