Measurement of Single-Kidney Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) by Arterial Spin Labeling

Xiang He¹, Kyongtae Ty Bae¹

Single kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is an important clinical measurement of renal function. Conventional radioscintigraphy, CT and MR dynamic contrast-enhanced based imaging techniques require injection of exogenous agents and may not be appropriate for all patients. In this preliminary study, we used the arterial spin labeling (ASL) technique to label blood as an endogenous. Single kidney GFR was estimated from the glomerular water filtration fraction on the basis of the apparent T1ρ difference between the renal corpuscle and cortex parenchyma. The simultaneously measured RBF and GFR are within the range of measurements by other invasive techniques.