Authors : Ali Nahardani, Fariborz Faeghi and Hasan Hashemi
Abstract: The human cardiovascular system is a complex architecture consisting of an uncountable number of muscular fibers. This architecture is orderly arranged. Most of the cardiovascular diseases affect the microstructural normal histology and thereby its regularity (e.g., Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, etc.). Diffusion-weighted imaging is a neuroradiological method to image the early neural histopathological changes in cerebrovascular accidents non-invasively. It can be employed on the other highly organized tissues like the myocardium. Cardiac Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is a novel and promising method for investigating the myocardial fibrous structure non-invasively. DTI measures the magnitude of diffusivity and provides the information regarding the myocardial fibers’orientations in space. This study reviews the precise definition of the diffusion phenomenon from biological and physical points of view and then explains the cardiac diffusion-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging methods. It also introduces the practical maps and indices to interpret the myocardial microstructures correctly and then reviews the cardiac diffusion imaging’s clinical applications briefly. Finally, a concise discussion of the cardiac diffusion tensor imaging’s drawbacks and limitations is held to pave the road for other researchers and investigators.
Ali Nahardani, Fariborz Faeghi and Hasan Hashemi, 2016. Cardiac Diffusion-Weighted Imaging: From the Physics to Clinical Applications. Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 10: 374-393.