Direction‐averaged diffusion‐weighted MRI signal using different axisymmetric B‐tensor encoding schemes

Purpose It has been shown, theoretically and in vivo, that using the Stejskal‐Tanner pulsed‐gradient, or linear tensor encoding (LTE), and in tissue exhibiting a “stick‐like” diffusion geometry, the direction‐averaged diffusion‐weighted MRI signal at high b‐values ( 7000 < b < 10000 s / mm 2 ) follows a power‐law, decaying as 1 / b . It has also been shown, theoretically, that for planar tensor encoding (PTE), the direction‐averaged diffusion‐weighted MRI signal decays as 1/ b . We aimed to confirm this theoretical prediction in vivo. We then considered the direction‐averaged signal for arbitrary b‐tensor shapes and different tissue substrates to look for other conditions under which a power‐law exists. Methods We considered the signal decay for high b‐values for encoding geometries ranging from 2‐dimensional PTE, through isotropic or spherical tensor encoding to LTE. When a power‐law behavior was suggested, this was tested using in silico simulations and, when appropriate, in vivo using ultra‐strong (300 mT/m) gradients. Results Our in vivo results confirmed the predicted 1/ b power law for PTE. Moreover, our analysis showed that using an axisymmetric b‐tensor a power‐law only exists under very specific conditions: (a) “stick‐like” tissue geometry and purely LTE or purely PTE waveforms; and (b) "pancake‐like" tissue geometry and a purely LTE waveform. Conclusions A complete analysis of the power‐law dependencies of the diffusion‐weighted signal at high b‐values has been performed. Only three specific forms of encoding result in a power‐law dependency, pure linear and pure PTE when the tissue geometry is “stick‐like” and pure LTE when the tissue geometry is "pancake‐like". The different exponents of these encodings could be used to provide independent validation of the presence of different tissue geometries in vivo.