Non-contrast Enhanced MR Imaging of the Kidney in Healthy Volunteers

Non-contrast enhanced (NCE) structural MRI enables to investigate renal anatomy.

Additional NCE-MR acquisition modalities (e.g. Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI), Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) MRI, Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL), MR Angiography (MRA), phase-contrast MRI), which could be used in combination with structural MRI in a single acquisition session, have been identified to investigate in more detail renal function and structure, opening the possibility to estimate local renal diffusion and blood perfusion, beyond providing high-resolution anatomical accuracy.

Preliminary to the identification of novel imaging biomarkers of renal disease progression, perfusion and diffusion MR sequences need to be optimized for the renal compartment. Moreover, NCE-MRIs acquired on healthy volunteers are required to investigate perfusion and diffusion changes in pathological kidneys as compared to normal and physiological condition.

The objective of this study is to provide normal control NCE-MRI sequences to be used as reference for the investigation of perfusion and diffusion changes in the kidney of patients affected by chronic kidney disease (e.g. diabetic nephropathy, nephrosclerosis, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease).