Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging in an Ultra-Low Magnetic Field

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging is well known as a highly effective technique of medical visualization. One of its relatively new approaches is diffusion imaging. As a rule, the majority of magnetic resonance investigations in biology and medicine tends to be carried out in high magnetic fields (1.5 T and higher), but there are some advantages of the same experiments in low magnetic fields. It can be strongly useful, for example, for designing and testing new pulse sequences, training operators of magnetic resonance imagers, making new phantoms (model objects). In this study, diffusion-weighted imaging experiments in a low magnetic field 7 mT are performed in the first time. Nevertheless, this field is about two orders of magnitude bigger than an extremely low Earth field, and so concomitant gradients and polarization problems do not arise. In particular, diffusion weighted images of combined model samples (phantoms) are presented.