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Abstract #4027

Effect of Diffusion Time on Diffusion Kurtosis in Neural Tissues

Edward S. Hui1,2, Steve H. Fung2,3, Ed X. Wu1,4

1Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Signal Processing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong; 2Department of Radiology Research, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston, TX, United States; 3Department of Radiology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, United States; 4Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong


As diffusion-weighted (DW) signal attenuation not only depends on diffusion gradient strength but also the time separation between the 2 diffusion gradients (Δ), it is important to examine the effect of Δ on the kurtosis of the water displacement profile which could be estimated by a recently proposed robust and efficient technique known as diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI). It quantifies the kurtosis of the water diffusion profile, by acquiring DW signal at multiple b-values by varying the diffusion gradient strength at fixed Δ. The effect of Δ on kurtosis has been studies in vivo for the first time to assess its potential in teasing biological information underlying neural microstructures.