A Practical Guide to Advanced Diffusion MRI

This practical handbook on Diffusion Weighted MRI techniques provides a concise and schematic overview of several key aspects of this imaging modality. It covers the workflow from image acquisition to data processing, and provides context and examples of its application for imaging the brain and other body districts. The practical aspects of diffusion MRI, key mathematical principles and derived metrics underlying diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) are explored in depth, illustrating some advanced methods to overcome the limitations of DTI itself.

This manual also names some of the main software tools available at the time of writing for processing, and provides step-by-step explanations of the main processing steps with examples to enhance understanding of the post-processing data workflow.

This manual is intended for imaging professionals, including MR technologists and radiologists in training, as well as other professionals who routinely use MRI.

Mario Coriasco

Qualified as a radiographer in 1995, he graduated in Medical Radiology Techniques in 2006. He worked as a radiographer in the Radiology Department of the University of Turin, then in the Unit of Interventional Cardiology of the same University, and since 2001 he has worked in the Neuroradiology of the Neuroscience Department of the Turin University, as a radiographer, CT and MR-technologist. He has extensive experience of advanced image processing in the magnetic resonance, in particular PWI, DTI, 1H-MRS, and in fMRI experiments in pathological conditions and in research applications. He was Adjunct Professor at the University of Genova, teaching Advanced MR techniques in a 1st level master’s in MR (2015-2016). Now he's Adjunct professor at the Turin University, teaching MR techniques at the Bachelor's Degree of Medical Radiology Technician and Radiologic Techniques at the Bachelor's Degree of Neurophisyopathology Techician. Author of many publications edited on national and international revues, he published books on digital imaging in medical radiology and on magnetic resonance, both adopted as a reference text by a number of universities.

Federico D’Agata

After completing an MSc in Physics (Nuclear and Subnuclear) with a thesis titled “Tests for Drift Chambers for the CMS Experiment,” and an MSc in Psychology (Sciences of Mind) with a thesis titled “Social Emotions: An Effective Connectivity Study,” Federico D'Agata earned a PhD in Experimental Neuroscience from the University of Turin, Italy. His doctoral dissertation was “Cerebellar Functions: Insights from Behavioral, Structural, and Functional Neuroimaging Studies in Healthy and Medical Conditions”. He is the author and co-author of national and international publications, scientific articles, and monographs on MRI. Since 2022, he has been an associate professor in Applied Physics at the Department of Neurosciences "Rita Levi Montalcini" of the University of Turin.

Alberto De Luca

Alberto De Luca is an assistant professor at UMC Utrecht (the Netherlands) focusing on the development and application of (diffusion) MRI methods for neuroimaging. Since the completion of his PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Padova (Italy), he has been passionate to understand the potential and caveats of diffusion MRI to study brain organization, performing broad spectrum research in this field (e.g., acquisition design, optimization, development of quantification methods, fiber tractography and clinical translation). He is the author and co-author of several scientific publications and book chapters on diffusion MRI, and has been awarded competitive grants (e.g., European Research Council) to advance his research on brain fiber characterization and its clinical applications.

Luciana Gennari

Qualified as a radiographer in1990, in 2007  she became a tutor in the Neuroscience Department.  She works mainly in Magnetic Resonance Imaging and she has taken on the role of Primary Technologist in many research projects. She received a master degree in Specialist in equipment optimization and development, sequences and MRI study techniques in 2022 from the University of Florence. She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca with extensive experience in MRI advanced techniques and post processing. She is the author of ten publications edited ion national and international reviews.