Effects of B value on quantification of rapid diffusion kurtosis imaging in normal and acute ischemic brain tissues

Purpose: Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) has been widely used to characterize brain tissue alterations. Diffusion-weighting factor or b value plays an important role in the measurement of rapid DKI and may have influential effects on them. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of b value on rapid DKI indices in normal and acute ischemic brain tissues. Materials and Methods: This study enrolled 10 healthy subjects and 4 acute ischemic stroke patients. Three repeated DKI data with 6 high b values (500, 750, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000 s/mm²) were acquired from healthy subjects, whereas nonrepeated DKI data with 3 high b values (1000, 2000, 3000 s/mm²) were acquired from ischemic stroke patients. The DKI datasets were decomposed into several rapid DKI datasets consisting of 1 b0 and 2 high b values for comparisons. Results: The results showed that b value significantly impacted the reproducibility and accuracy of DKI indices. The comparisons demonstrated that DKI with b = (0, 1000, 3000) s/mm² exhibited more reproducible and accurate DKI indices than other DKI datasets in normal brain tissues, and similar results were noticed in acute ischemic brain tissue. Conclusions: We concluded that b value significantly impacted the quantification of DKI indices in both normal and acute ischemic brain tissues.