Some new observations on pulse sequence dependent diffusion related edge enhancement in MR microscopy

Self-diffusion of nuclear spins has been suggested to cause edge enhancement in images especially on a microscopic scale. According to previously published work, theory suggests that edge enhancement is caused by motional narrowing due to the boundaries and spin self-diffusion during the data acquisition period. More careful examination reveals that edge enhancement due to motional narrowing develops only under a few specific conditions. This lack of generality of motional narrowing theory, as well as experimental observations, indicate that edge enhancement due to effects other than motional narrowing alone can exist. It is found that edge enhancement depends greatly on the data acquisition mode; therefore, the images obtained are different depending on the pulse sequence employed. For example, excessive attenuation of DC components due to diffusion can result in edge enhancement in the spin echo signal. However, in the case of FID-like signals, DC components are preserved while positive high frequency parts are attenuated, thereby degrading resolution. The new phenomenon observed has been termed selective spectral suppression since the observed edge enhancement results from the selective attenuation of certain frequency components in the nuclear signals due to diffusion-dependent signal attenuation for a given pulse sequence.