Diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging is a well established method for detecting acute ischaemic injury in the brain and is being increasingly applied to the study of brain structure and organisation (1,2). The technique provides information on the motion of water molecules and uses no ionising radiation. The possibility of using DW MRI to probe neuronal microstructures in highly ordered neuronal systems, such as the spinal cord, has been recognised as having great clinical potential. However, the combination of susceptibility artefacts from the surrounding bony structures, motion of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), carotid and vertebral artery pulsations and respiratory motion have hampered clinical studies. Recently, several techniques have been developed to address these problems (3,4) and two of these methods will shortly be available for use at the Scottish Rite campus of CHOA.