Renal MR Elastography: Normal Findings and Variability of Stiffness Measurements

MR Elastography is a new technique aimed at non-invasively measuring the stiffness of tissues. It has recently given interesting results in the assessment of liver fibrosis.

The objectives of the current study are:

1. to develop an imaging protocol for MR Elastography of the kidneys;
2. To calculate the stiffness of normal kidneys;
3. To evaluate the variability of the measurements of kidney stiffness by repeating the procedure twice on the same volunteers.