Evren Ozarslan1,
Thomas H. Mareci2
1Department
of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston,
MA, United States; 2Department of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
Estimations of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and tensor (ADT) from diffusion-weighted acquisitions necessitate computations of, respectively, the b-value and b-matrix associated with the employed pulse sequence. We show that these important quantities can be conveniently computed for any gradient waveform using a simple algorithm that requires a few lines of code. This is achieved by representing the waveform by a piecewise constant function. With this representation, our technique complements the existing methods commonly used to compute the effects of restricted diffusion, and provides a consistent and convenient framework for studies that aim to infer the microstructural features of the tissue.