Damien J. McHugh1,2 and Geoff J.M. Parker1,2,3
1Centre for Imaging Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, 2CRUK & EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre in Cambridge & Manchester, United Kingdom, 3Bioxydyn Ltd., Manchester, United Kingdom
This work investigates the use of optimised diffusion-weighted acquisitions for distinguishing between different microstructural changes relevant to characterising tumour tissue. Optimised protocols are found for a 'baseline' microstructure, and for two distinct changes which would lead to an ADC increase: (1)
volume fraction decrease
with cell size constant (therefore a decrease in cell density), (2) cell size decrease and
coupled volume fraction decrease (therefore a constant cell density). Model fitting simulations are performed with optimised and non-optimised protocols, demonstrating that the improved precision achieved with optimised protocols may be beneficial in terms of distinguishing between these microstructural changes.
