Detection of subtle white matter abnormalities in relapsing-remitting MS – Q-space analysis of the slow diffusion component

Background and Purpose: Experimental evidence suggests, that the slow diffusion component depicts intracellular/intraaxonal water molecules rather than the extracellular fraction. We developed and implemented advanced DWI MR sequences and analysis strategies for slow diffusion component analysis along the lines suggested by Assaf and Cohen. High b-value DWI and q-space analysis were performed in patients with chronic subcortical, mainly white matter lesions to study the sensitivity and imaging information when compared to conventional DWI and other MRI contrasts. Methods: Standardized MRI was performed in 24 pat…