Feasibility of Diffusion Tensor Imaging at 0.5T

This work examined the feasibility of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at 0.5T, a technique performed almost exclusively at field strengths of at least 1.5T. 2D diffusion-weighted axial spin-echo echo-planar imaging and 3D T1 weighted acquisitions were performed in the NIST isotropic diffusion phantom, a DTI phantom, and 5 healthy volunteers on a head-specific 0.5T MRI system. ADC measurements of the NIST phantom were in excellent agreement with previously recorded 3T measurements while DTI processing and tractography performed using Modus Plan was successful in all of the volunteers.