Abstract

Multi-shell diffusion MRI (dMRI) opens up the opportunity for microstructure mapping, but is not routinely acquired in clinics. This study retrospectively analyzed a large diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) dataset (N=7984) acquired as multi-series in the clinic and proposes a workflow to inspect the data before preprocessing. Automated analysis of dicom headers shows about 36% with incomplete acquisition, likely due to time constraints and patient discomfort, and 32% with image discrepancies. Finally, we show that signal variations between series occur and need to be corrected for in preprocessing. Our results indicate higher-order dMRI in the clinical setting is feasible.