Medical Physics Seminar – Monday, September 20, 2010
Assessing Kidney Perfusion with Arterial Spin Labeling MRI
Nathan Artz (student of Dr. Sean Fain)
Research Assistant, Department of Medical Physics, UW-School of Medicine & Public Health, Madison, WI USA
Although renal perfusion is not routinely measured in the clinical setting today, the literature suggesting its clinical utility is continually expanding. Perhaps the greatest potential for renal perfusion imaging lies post-transplantation, when longitudinal assessment is performed routinely and often requires biopsy. Our research has focused on implementing a non-invasive, arterial spin labeling MRI perfusion technique, validating the method using an animal model, and measuring reproducibility in native and transplanted kidneys.