Synopsis

Keywords: Body: Liver, Body: Kidney, Contrast mechanisms: Diffusion

The liver is a highly vascularized organ; therefore, perfusion-related effects are not negligible for diffusivity assessment using DWI. IVIM is an imaging technique used to simultaneously estimate perfusion-related and pure molecular diffusivities through analysis of the signal decay of multi-b-value diffusion-weighted images. Fibrosis and cirrhosis can result in significant changes in the histopathological structure of the liver, which consequently leads to pronounced alterations in the ADC and IVIM parameters. Compared with conventional or morphological imaging, IVIM provides additional information that can aid in screening and diagnosis for the liver, kidneys, pancreas, and bowel.