DWI- DIFFUSION WEIGHTED IMAGING

• FORM OF MR IMAGING BASED UPON MEASURING THE RANDOM BROWNIAN

MOTION OF WATER MOLECULES WITHIN A VOXEL OF TISSUE
• PARTICULARLY USEFUL IN TUMOR CHARACTERIZATION AND CEREBRAL
ISCHEMIA

BROWIAN MOTION- REFERS TO THE RANDOM, MICROSCOPIC MOVEMENT OF WATER AND

OTHER SMALL MOLECULES DUE TO THERMAL COLLISIONS. IT IS COMMONLY KNOWN AS
DIFFUSION IF OUR FIELD

----------------------

WE SHOULD TAKE NOTE THAT WHEN SELECTING A VOXEL THERE SHOULD BE AN

ABSENCE OF WATER, BONE AND AIR BECAUSE WE SHOULD TREAT THE THE POI OR SUSPECTED
“TUMOR” AS A VOXEL IN ORDER TO PRODUCE A QUALITY IMAGE. IF ANY OF THESE ARE
PRESENT(WATER, BONE, AIR) OUR SPECTRA WILL NOT BE ACCURATE. THE SPECTRA IS THE
GRAPH SHOWN. AND THIS GRAPH OR SO-CALLED SPECTRA IS A POST PROCESS PRODUCED BY
THE COMPUTER.

AN MR SPECTROSCOPY SPECTRUM CAN BE OBTAINED FROM ANY FID(FREE INDUCTION DECAY).

THE FID IN MR SIGNAL EMITTED AT THE LARMOUR FREQUENCY FROM AN EXCITED SAMPLE.

FOR MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY THE X-AXIS DEFINES THE RADIOFREQUENCIES

EMITTED BY THE PATIENT, AND THE Y-AXIS IS THE INTENSITY OF THE SIGNAL PRODUCED BY THE
PATIENT AT EACH FREQUENCY

NAA – N-ACETYL ASPARTATE

CR - CREATININE
CHO - CHOLINE
LACTATE -
ML- MYOINOSITOL

NAA - NAA IS A NEURONAL MARKER AND IS DECREASED IN MOST DISORDERS THAT DESTROY
BRAIN TISSUES, SUCH AS NEOPLASMS

CHO - CHOLINE COMPOUNDS REFLECT THE SYNTHESIS AND DEGRADATION OF CELL

MEMBRANES; THEREFORE, INCREASED CHOLINE IS SEEN WHEN THERE IS HIGH CELLULAR
TURNOVER, AS IT OCCURS WITH MOST TUMORS AN INCREASE IN CHOLINE IN OUR
SPECTRA/GRAPH INDICATES THAT THE TUMOR IS MALIGNANT

LACTATE - IS TYPICALLY ELEVATED IN THE SETTING OF ACUTE ISCHEMIA, INFARCTION, AND

MANY HIGH-GRADE TUMORS AND SEVERE INFECTIONS
CREATINE - REMAINS STABLE IN THE PRESENCE OF MANY DISORDERS BUT CAN BE INCREASED
IN HYPOMETABOLIC STATES AND DECREASED IN HYPERMETABOLIC STATES.

MULTI-VOXEL CHEMICAL SHIFT IMAGING (CSI) TECHNIQUES OFFER TWO POTENTIAL

ADVANTAGES OVER SINGE-VOXEL
1) A LARGER TOTAL COVERAGE AREA (SINCE THE SIZE OF THE ENTIRE MULTIVOXEL SLAB IS
GREATER)
2) HIGHER SPATIAL RESOLUTION (SINCE THE INDIVIDUAL VOXELS ARE SMALLER)

A WIDE COVERAGE AREA IS IMPORTANT FOR LARGE, HETEROGENOUS LESIONS LIKE THE BRAIN
TUMOR SHOWN ABOVE, WHERE THE SVS TECHNIQUE PROVIDES DATA FROM ONLY A SMALL
PORTION OF THE MASS.

MULTI VOXEL, FINDINGS AND NORMAL IS NOTED FOR COMPARISON

MAGNETIC RESONANCE ANGIOGRAPHY IS BASED THE PRINCIPLE OF FLOW-RELATED

ENHANCEMENT, A TIME-OF-FLIGHT FLOW PHENOMENON

TIME OF FLIGHT

This technique derive contrast between stationary tissues and flowing blood by manipulating
the magnitude of the magnetization.

The easiest way to identify TOF images is to look for blood vessels in the body (circle of willis
and carotids). Blood vessels usually appear bright on TOF image.