Renal Blood Flow Using Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) MRI: Experimental Protocol and Principles

Kai-Hsiang Chuang (1) , Martin Meier (2) , María Fernández-Seara (3) , F. Kober (4) , Min-Chi Ku (5)

1 Queensland Brain Institute and Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD
2 Institute for Laboratory Animal Science - Hannover Medical School
3 Radiology Department, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, University of Navarra, Pamplona
4 CRMBM - Centre de résonance magnétique biologique et médicale
5 Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in the Helmholtz Association, Berlin

A noninvasive, robust, and reproducible method to measure renal perfusion is important to understand the physiology of kidney. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI technique labels the endogenous blood water as freely diffusible tracers to measure perfusion quantitatively without relying on exogenous contrast agent. Therefore, it alleviates the safety concern involving gadolinium chelates. To obtain quantitative tissue perfusion information is particularly relevant for multisite and longitudinal imaging of living subjects. This chapter is based upon work from the PARENCHIMA COST Action, a community-driven network funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program of the European Union, which aims to improve the reproducibility and standardization of renal MRI biomarkers. This experimental protocol chapter is complemented by two separate chapters describing the basic concept and data analysis.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Kidney; Mice; Arterial spin labeling (ASL)

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Bioengineering; Imaging

Kai-Hsiang Chuang, Martin Meier, María Fernández-Seara, F. Kober, Min-Chi Ku. Renal Blood Flow Using Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) MRI: Experimental Protocol and Principles. Preclinical MRI of the kidney, pp.443-453, 2021, 978-1-0716-0977-4. ⟨10.1007/978-1-0716-0978-1_26⟩. ⟨hal-03122742⟩