Biexponential apparent diffusion coefficient parametrization in adult vs newborn brain

The decay of brain water signal with b-factor in adult and newborn brains has been measured over an extended b-factor range. Measurements of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) decay curves were made at 16 b-factors from 100 to 5000 s/mm2 along three orthogonal directions using a line scan diffusion imaging (LSDI) sequence to acquire data from 0.09 ml voxels in a mid-brain axial slice. Regions-of-interest (ROIs) in cortical gray (CG) and white matter in the internal capsule (IC) were selected for ADC decay curve analyses using a biexponential fitting model over this extended b-factor range. Measures of the fast and slow ADC component amplitudes and the traces of the fast and slow diffusion coefficients were obtained from CG and IC ROIs in both adults and newborns. The ADC decay curves from the newborn brain regions were found to have a significantly higher fraction of the fast diffusion ADC component than corresponding regions in the adult brain. The results demonstrate that post-natal brain development has a profound affect on the biexponential parameters which characterize the decay of water signal over an extended b-factor range in both gray and white matter.