Matthew Man Hin Cheung1,2, Ed X. Wu1,2
1Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China; 2Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing , The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
This study aims to investigate the effects of different b-values in detecting microstructural changes during well-controlled rodent brain maturation. The results are also compared to the diffusion kurtosis indices obtained by diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) that characterizes the restricted diffusion by fitting multiple b-value DW measurements to a quadratic-exponential model. The results indicate that the b-value for optimal DTI detection of microstructural changes depends on the specific physiological or pathological processes targeted. High-order diffusion imaging, such as DKI, is therefore essential for more robust MR diffusion characterization of neural tissues.