Intravoxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM) imaging in the heart remains challenging resulting in large variation of the perfusion surrogates in practice. In the present work, IVIM sensitivity of standard and motion-compensated Spin Echo (SE) and Stimulated Echo Acquisition Mode (STEAM) diffusion-weighted imaging approaches are analyzed using Monte Carlo simulations and perfused porcine heart experiments. An extended IVIM model is proposed to account for the microstructural properties of the myocardium. It is demonstrated that motion-compensated SE sequences provide insufficient perfusion sensitivity. In contrast, STEAM allows delineating hypoperfused myocardium using experimental imaging data.
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