Intravoxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM) MRI of the Human Pancreas Detects Altered Glucose-Stimulated Pancreas Perfusion in Type 1 Diabetes

Motivation: Monitoring of the pancreatic islet can help predict participants at risk for developing diabetes and facilitate development of islet-directed therapies. Goal(s): This study employed IVIM to detect the vascularity of pancreatic islets and their response to glucose. Approach: We imaged pancreas perfusion in 14 control participants with no pancreas pathology and 2 participants with type 1 diabetes. Pancreas perfusion was imaged dynamically after oral ingestion of a 30 g glucose gel. Results: We found that pancreas perfusion increased ~14% in response to glucose ingestion in control participants, but perfusion was delayed and transient in participants with type 1 diabetes. Impact: MRI of pancreas perfusion can improve our understanding of vasculature dysfunction in diabetes. Studies in larger populations of participants with diabetes and those at risk for diabetes may help us better predict disease onset and evaluate novel therapies.