Towards Clinical Translation of Intravoxel Incoherent Motion MRI: Acquisition and Analysis Consensus Recommendations

Sigmund EE, Rauh SS, Iima M, Federau C, Hernando D, Jalnefjord O, Jansen JF, Jasse J, Jerome NP, Kaandorp MP, Kurugol S, Laun FB, Liu MM, Ljimani A, Niendorf T, Reiter DA, Shazeeb MS, Shukla-Dave A, Stabinska J, Wetscherek A, While PT, Wu D, Le Bihan D, Gurney-Champion OJ (2026)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2026

Journal

DOI: 10.1002/jmri.70278

Abstract

Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) MRI allows for simultaneous assessment of tissue microcirculation (perfusion) and diffusion of water. In single-center studies, IVIM has shown great potential for diagnosis, treatment outcome prediction, and treatment monitoring for many different diseases and organs. However, heterogeneity in data acquisition protocols, pre-processing pipelines, and post-processing routines yields differences in reported IVIM parameters, which has constrained large-scale deployment of IVIM. Moreover, deploying IVIM protocols and analysis typically requires technical expertise, further challenging wider use, especially for clinicians. In this consensus paper, to accelerate the deployment of IVIM, we provide recommendations and harmonize protocols for brain, breast, kidney, liver, muscle, and pancreas IVIM studies. For this goal we organized multiple questionnaires and held a dedicated workshop. To ensure a level of standardized, reproducible results, without restricting innovation, we suggest a small subset of b-values to always be measured and analyzed separately, and to which more extensive b-value sampling can be added for advanced investigations. We further introduce detailed recommendations on acquisition protocols and analysis pipelines. To increase consistency, repeatability, and reproducibility, we highly recommend that these protocols and pipelines be deployed by scientists and clinicians for IVIM studies. For advanced users who desire different protocols or analysis approaches, we suggest adding results from our suggested protocols and analysis pipeline in the supplemental part of their paper to enable retrospective studies.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

New York University (NYU) United States (USA) (US) Leiden University Medical Center Netherlands (NL) Nagoya University / 名古屋大学 Japan (JP) University of Zurich / Universität Zürich (UZH) Switzerland (CH) University of Wisconsin - Madison United States (USA) (US) Sahlgrenska University Hospital / Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhuset Sweden (SE) Maastricht University Netherlands (NL) Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf Germany (DE) NTNU Trondheim - Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway (NO) Universitäts-Kinderspital Zürich Switzerland (CH) Boston Children's Hospital United States (USA) (US) Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai United States (USA) (US) Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft / Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) Germany (DE) Emory University United States (USA) (US) University of Massachusetts Medical School United States (USA) (US) Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center United States (USA) (US) Kennedy Krieger Institute United States (USA) (US) Royal Marsden Hospital / The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust United Kingdom (GB) Zhejiang University / Chekiang University / 浙江大学 China (CN) Université Paris-Saclay France (FR) University of Amsterdam Netherlands (NL)

How to cite

APA:

Sigmund, E.E., Rauh, S.S., Iima, M., Federau, C., Hernando, D., Jalnefjord, O.,... Gurney-Champion, O.J. (2026). Towards Clinical Translation of Intravoxel Incoherent Motion MRI: Acquisition and Analysis Consensus Recommendations. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.70278

MLA:

Sigmund, Eric E., et al. "Towards Clinical Translation of Intravoxel Incoherent Motion MRI: Acquisition and Analysis Consensus Recommendations." Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (2026).

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