Analyzing PFG anisotropic anomalous diffusions by instantaneous signal attenuation method

TL;DR

This paper develops a comprehensive theoretical framework for analyzing anisotropic anomalous diffusion in NMR and MRI using the instantaneous signal attenuation method, accounting for various fractional diffusion models and finite gradient pulse effects.

Contribution

It introduces a general PFG signal attenuation expression for anisotropic anomalous diffusion that includes finite pulse effects and unifies multiple fractional diffusion models.

Findings

Derived PFG signal attenuation expressions for anisotropic anomalous diffusion.

Results reduce to known isotropic and normal diffusion cases.

Validated expressions with existing theoretical methods.

Abstract

Anomalous diffusion has been investigated in many systems. Pulsed field gradient (PFG) anomalous diffusion is much more complicated than PFG normal diffusion. There have been many theoretical and experimental studies for PFG isotropic anomalous diffusion, but there are very few theoretical treatments reported for anisotropic anomalous diffusion. Currently, there is not a general PFG signal attenuation expression, which includes the finite gradient pulse effect and can treat all three types of anisotropic fractional diffusions: general fractional diffusion, time fractional diffusion, and space-fractional diffusion. In this paper, the recently developed instantaneous signal attenuation (ISA) method was applied to obtain PFG signal attenuation expression for free and restricted anisotropic anomalous diffusion with two models: fractal derivative and fractional derivative models. The obtained PFG signal attenuation expression for anisotropic anomalous diffusion can reduce to the reported result for PFG anisotropic normal diffusion. The results can also reduce to reported PFG isotropic anomalous diffusion results obtained by effective phase shift diffusion equation method and instantaneous signal attenuation method. For anisotropic space-fractional diffusion, the obtained result agrees with that obtained by the modified Bloch equation method. Additionally, The PFG signal attenuation expressions for free and restricted anisotropic curvilinear diffusions were derived by the traditional method, the results of which agree with the PFG anisotropic fractional diffusion results based on the fractional derivative model. The powder pattern of PFG anisotropic diffusion was also discussed. The results here improve our understanding of PFG anomalous diffusion, and provide new formalisms for PFG anisotropic anomalous diffusion in NMR and MRI.