There is disclosed a novel form of imaging referred to in this disclosure as “correlated diffusion imaging” or CDI in which the tissue being imaged is characterized by a joint correlation of diffusion signal attenuation across multiple gradient pulse strengths and timings. Advantageously, by taking into account signal attenuation at different water diffusion motion sensitivities, correlated diffusion imaging can provide significantly improved delineation between cancerous tissue and healthy tissue when compared to existing diffusion imaging modalities. In an embodiment, the method comprises performing quantitative evaluation using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, tissue class separability analysis, and visual assessment to study correlated diffusion imaging for the task of identification of biological tissue of interest. In another embodiment, the method comprises comparing T2-weighted imaging results with that obtained using standard diffusion imaging (via the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)) and with that obtained using CDI for tissue characterization and analysis. In still another embodiment, the method comprises of a dual-stage signal mixing configuration of CDI that provides better visualization of anatomical information while preserving strong delineation between cancerous tissue and healthy tissue.
