Investigating Multi-Dimensional Diffusion-Weighted MRI for High-Resolution Post-Mortem Brain Acquisitions at 9.4 T

Diffusion-weighted MRI (dMRI) is a widely used tool to non-invasively study the microstructure of the human brain. However, conventionally employed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) applications only provide limited information. In contrast, Multi-Dimensional Diffusion Imaging, MD-dMRI, aims to provide a framework for further discrimination between highly complex biological structures. In this context, post-mortem MD-dMRI data play an important role to validate in vivo imaging results. Because the fixation process modifies tissue properties, adapted and optimized acquisition methods are required. Here, we investigate the feasibility to acquire and analyse high-resolution MD-dMRI data from a post-mortem brain tissue sample.