Observed paradoxical perfusion fraction elevation in steatotic liver: An example of intravoxel incoherent motion modeling of the perfusion component constrained by the diffusion component
Abstract
Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) theory in MRI was proposed by Le Bihan et al to account for the effect of vessel/capillary perfusion on the aggregate diffusion weighted MR signal. The fast component of diffusion is related to microperfusion, whereas the slow component is linked to molecular diffusion. Three parameters can be computed. Dslow (or D) is the diffusion coefficient representing the slow “pure” molecular diffusion (unaffected by perfusion). The perfusion fraction (PF, or f ) represents the fraction of the compartment related to (micro)circulation, which can be understood as the proportional “incoherently flowing fluid” (ie blood) volume. Dfast (or D*) is the perfusion-related diffusion coefficient representing the incoherent microcirculation within the voxel, which contains information on blood perfusion speed. Within the IVIM research community, it has been generally assumed that the perfusion component and the diffusion component can be separately determined. However, in NMR in Biomedicine we recently published that, at least for the liver, IVIM modeling of the perfusion component is constrained by the diffusion component, and a reduced Dslow measure leads to artificially higher PF and Dfast measures. 1 Our results may have important implications for interpreting previously published literature on IVIM and for designing future IVIM studies. For one example, many previous works have reported that liver steatosis is associated with an increased PF. I argue that…
Read the paper
Related studies
- Learning from First-Generation Qualitative Approaches in the IS Discipline: An Evolutionary View and Some Implications for Authors and Evaluators (PART 1/2)
- Commentary on the clinical and preclinical dosage limits of interstitially administered magnetic fluids for therapeutic hyperthermia based on current practice and efficacy models
- Prosthesis: New Technological Opportunities and Innovative Biomedical Devices
- The history and future of neural modeling for cochlear implants
- Ryanodine receptors: waking up from refractoriness
- Novel Transgenic Rabbit Model Sheds Light on the Puzzling Role of Matrix Metalloproteinase-12 in Atherosclerosis
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.