Estimation of Intravoxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM) Parameters in Vertebral Bone Marrow: a Comparative Study of Five Algorithms

To access the performances of different algorithms for quantification of Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) parameters D, f, D^* in Vertebral Bone Marrow (VBM). Five algorithms were studied: four deterministic algorithms (the One-Step and three segmented methods: Two-Step, Three-Step, and Fixed- D^* algorithm) based on the least-squares (LSQ) method and a Bayesian probabilistic algorithm. Numerical simulations and quantification of IVIM parameters D, f, D^* in vivo in vertebral bone marrow, were done on six healthy volunteers. The One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test (p value = 0.05) was applied. In numerical simulations, the Bayesian algorithm provided the best estimation of D, f, D^* compared to the deterministic algorithms. In vivo VBM–IVIM, the values of D and f estimated by the Bayesian algorithm were close to those of the One-Step method, in contrast to the three segmented methods. The comparison of the five algorithms indicates that the Bayesian algorithm provides the best estimation of VBM–IVIM parameters, in both numerical simulations and in vivo data.