IVIM: Brain Tumor Applications
Ho Sung Kim1
1Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, Republic of

Synopsis

Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) magnetic resonance imaging technique aims to separate water molecule diffusion (D) component and microvascular perfusion or pseudo‐diffusion (D*) component in the diffusion‐weighted (DW) signals of tissues. Perfusion‐related information (pseudo‐diffusion D*, perfusion fraction F) was shown to be able to diagnose brain tumors. Because D values is not reliant on the effects of perfusion, the state of diffusion can be more accurately depicted than through conventional ADC measurements. IVIM does not require the use of intravenous contrast agents and can, therefore, be administered to children, pregnant women, patients with a previous anaphylactic reaction to gadolinium-based contrast agents.

Intravoxel Incoherent Motion in Brain Tumor Imaging

Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) magnetic resonance imaging technique, initially introduced by Le Bihan et al. aims to separate water molecule diffusion (D) component and microvascular perfusion or pseudo‐diffusion (D*) component in the diffusion‐weighted (DW) signals of tissues. Perfusion‐related information (pseudo‐diffusion D*, perfusion fraction F) was shown to be able to diagnose brain tumors, such as tumor grading and differentiation of recurrent tumors from posttreatment effects. The lower the ADC value is, the higher the tumor cell density is, and D* and f represent microangiogenesis; the greater the D* and f values, the more microvessels. The proliferation of tumor cell density and microvessels may predict the poor prognosis of the patients. However, reliable estimation of perfusion‐related parameters is a persistent problem. Nonlinear least squares method does not take into account the independent characterization of diffusion and perfusion components. Segmented least squares fitting causes bias errors due to the assumption on the influence of D* at high b‐values. More recently, Bayesian methods have been proposed to solve the regression problem in a probabilistic manner. Because D values are based on a model that is not reliant on the effects of perfusion, the state of diffusion can be more accurately depicted than through conventional ADC measurements. IVIM does not require the use of intravenous contrast agents and can, therefore, be administered to children, pregnant women, patients with a previous anaphylactic reaction to gadolinium-based contrast agents.

Acknowledgements

No acknowledgement found.

References

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Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 29 (2021)