MRI of “diffusion” in the human brain: New results using a modified CE‐FAST sequence

“Diffusion‐weighted” MRI in the normal human brain and in a patient with a cerebral metastasis is demonstrated. The method employed was a modified CE‐FAST sequence with imaging times of only 6‐10 s using a conventional 1.5‐T whole‐body MRI system (Siemens Magnetom). As with previous phantom and animal studies, the use of strong gradients together with macroscopic motions in vivo causes unavoidable artifacts in diffusion‐weighted images of the human brain. While these artifacts are shown to be considerably reduced by averaging of 8‐16 images, the resulting diffusion contrast is compromised by unknown signal losses due to motion. © 1989 Academic press, Inc.