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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 6, 2020; 8(15): 3164-3176
Published online Aug 6, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i15.3164
Progress of intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging in liver diseases
Yun-Yun Tao, Yi Zhou, Ran Wang, Xue-Qin Gong, Jing Zheng, Cui Yang, Lin Yang, Xiao-Ming Zhang
Yun-Yun Tao, Yi Zhou, Ran Wang, Xue-Qin Gong, Jing Zheng, Cui Yang, Lin Yang, Xiao-Ming Zhang, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology and Medical Research Center of Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Tao YY and Zhou Y are co-first authors; Tao YY and Zhou Y wrote the paper; Yang L revised the paper; Zhang XM designed the research; Wang R, Gong XQ, Zheng J and Yang C collected the data.
Supported by the Projects of the Department of Science and Technology of Sichuan Province, No. 2016JY0105.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest with respect to this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lin Yang, MD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology and Medical Research Center of Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, No. 63 Wenhua Road, Nanchong 637000, Sichuan Province, China. linyangmd@163.com
Received: March 26, 2020
Peer-review started: March 26, 2020
First decision: May 29, 2020
Revised: June 11, 2020
Accepted: July 14, 2020
Article in press: July 14, 2020
Published online: August 6, 2020
Processing time: 133 Days and 3.2 Hours
Abstract

Traditional magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) uses a single exponential model to obtain the apparent diffusion coefficient to quantitatively reflect the diffusion motion of water molecules in living tissues, but it is affected by blood perfusion. Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM)-DWI utilizes a double-exponential model to obtain information on pure water molecule diffusion and microcirculatory perfusion-related diffusion, which compensates for the insufficiency of traditional DWI. In recent years, research on the application of IVIM-DWI in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatic diseases has gradually increased and has achieved considerable progress. This study mainly reviews the basic principles of IVIM-DWI and related research progress in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatic diseases.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging; Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging; Liver diseases; Liver cirrhosis; Carcinoma; Cholangiocarcinoma

Core tip: Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI) utilizes a double-exponential model to obtain information on pure water molecule diffusion and microcirculatory perfusion-related diffusion, which makes up for the insufficiency of traditional DWI. In recent years, research on the application of IVIM-DWI in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatic diseases has gradually increased and has made great progress. This study mainly reviews the basic principles of IVIM-DWI and its research progress in the diagnosis and treatment of hepatic diseases.