Modeling of the diffusion MR signal in calibrated model systems and nerves

Diffusion NMR is a powerful tool for gleaning microstructural information on opaque systems. In this work, the signal decay in single-pulsed-field gradient diffusion NMR experiments performed on a series of phantoms of increasing complexity, where the ground truth is known a priori, was modeled and used to identify microstructural features of these complex phantoms. We were able to demonstrate that, without assuming the number of components or compartments, the modeling can identify the number of restricted components, detect their sizes with an accuracy of a fraction of a micrometer, determine their relative populations, and identify and characterize free diffusion when present in addition to the components exhibiting restricted diffusion. After the accuracy of the modeling had been demonstrated, this same approach was used to study fixed nerves under different experimental conditions. It seems that this approach is able to characterize both the averaged axon diameter and the relative population of the different diffusing components in the neuronal tissues examined.