Evaluation of reliability and self-consistency of compartment size-distribution estimations by oscillating gradient spin-echo sequences

Changes in tissue microstructure are promising biomarkers of neurological diseases. However, achieving robust and reliable, non-invasive diagnostic tools to estimate microstructural features is a major challenge. We perform a systematic analysis using Non-uniform Oscillating Gradient Spin Echo (NOGSE) sequences to estimate size distributions of white-matter phantoms. We evaluate the reliability and self-consistency of the inference method. We find that estimation of the distribution’s mode is very robust and reliable for sharp and smooth gradient modulations. These results contribute to developing reliable diagnostic tools based on quantitative images of tissue microstructure.