Abstract #2540

Exact Results for Diffusion Weighted MR on Branched Structures

Niels Buhl^1,2, Sune Jespersen²

¹Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark; ²CFIN, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

Diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) employing long diffusion times can provide information on connectivity and topology in branching systems. We present an exact result for the diffusion propagator on a large class of metric networks (graphs), and subsequently derive an analytical expression for the signal attenuation in a PGSE diffusion experiment. We apply these results to a simple acinar model and demonstrate the sensitivity of DWI to an increasing number of collateral pathways.