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Effect of b value on contrast during diffusion‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging assessment of acute ischemic stroke
Author(s) -
Pereira Raoul S.,
Harris Ashley D.,
Sevick Robert J.,
Frayne Richard
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.10105
Subject(s) - magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , diffusion mri , stroke (engine) , ischemic stroke , nuclear medicine , imaging phantom , contrast (vision) , acute stroke , diffusion , radiology , nuclear magnetic resonance , ischemia , cardiology , physics , tissue plasminogen activator , optics , thermodynamics
Purpose To examine the effect of varying the diffusion encoding strength ( b value) on the contrast (signal difference, ΔS) between damaged and normal tissue during diffusion‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) assessment of acute ischemic stroke. Materials and Methods Phantoms with diffusion values approximating those expected in acutely infarcted and normal tissue were constructed from a mixture of agar and formaldehyde and imaged at varying b values (0–3000 mm −2 second). Ten patients were imaged with multiple b values (500–2500 mm −2 second) within 12 hours of stroke onset. Results Theoretical calculations showed that for any combination of diffusion coefficients there existed an optimal b value that was higher than the standard setting of 1000 mm −2 second, and this was confirmed by the phantom studies. In the patients, increasing b from 1000 to 1500 mm −2 second increased ΔS (average, 22.4%; P = 0.001), but no consistent benefit was seen at b = 2000 mm −2 second ( P = 0.408). This compared favorably with the average optimal b value of 1662 mm − 2 second calculated from the patients. Conclusion These results suggest that increasing the b value from 1000 to 1500 mm −2 second would increase contrast between infarcted and normal tissue in the setting of acute ischemic stroke. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2002;15:591–596. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.