Higher order diffusion imaging has revealed new insights into myocardial microstructure. At the b-values required for diffusion kurtosis or diffusion spectrum imaging, translation into human in-vivo application requires Stimulated Echo Acquisition Mode imaging (STEAM) at prolonged mixing-times. In this study the effect of mixing time on diffusion parameters is investigated covering the range of current spin-echo and STEAM aproaches. Results show that fractional anisotropy increases and mean diffusivity decreases with mixing-time. Diffusional kurtosis was found to decrease with mixing-time by varying amounts along fiber, sheet and sheet-normal direction which needs to be considered when comparing spin-echo imaging with STEAM acquisitions.
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