Synopsis

Keywords: Contrast mechanisms: Diffusion

Validations in phantoms, preclinical, and histological studies have greatly enhanced our understanding of what in vivo diffusion measures reflect. However, there remain complexities in human imaging that can confound interpretations and mean that phantom, animal, and histology studies do not always perfectly translate. Validation in clinical and population studies remains important to better inform interpretation of diffusion metrics in human studies. I will cover diffusion validation studies in clinical and population studies in living humans. In particular, studies relating various diffusion and other metrics to one another provide context for interpretation and help evaluate the specificity of various diffusion metrics.

Diffusion imaging is used extensively in human studies to examine changes in development, aging, disease, disorders, and injuries. Appropriately interpreting various diffusion metrics is important across studies, yet validation in living humans can be difficult given the lack of ‘ground truth’. Phantoms, preclinical, and histological studies have helped to greatly enhance our understanding of what diffusion measures reflect in terms of pathology and tissue. However, there remain complexities in human imaging that can confound interpretations and mean that phantom, animal, and histology studies do not always perfectly translate. This talk will cover a variety of diffusion validation studies in clinical and population studies in living humans, with an emphasis on human brain. In particular, studies relating various diffusion and other metrics to one another provide context for interpretation and help evaluate the specificity of various diffusion metrics to underlying tissue or pathology.

Acknowledgements

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References

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