Feng Wang1,
2, David A. Hormuth, II1, 3, Keiko Takahashi4,
John C. Gore1, 2, Raymond C. Harris4,
Takamune Takahashi4, Christopher C. Quarles1, 2
1Institute
of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States; 2Radiology
and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United
States; 3Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville,
TN, United States; 4O'Brien Mouse Kidney Physiology and Disease
Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
Renal function is highly dependent upon adequate perfusion and oxygenation and their non-invasive assessment in mice could provide useful tools with which to interrogate disease models. Recently, an experimentally practical quantitative BOLD approach (qBOLD) was proposed that enables the quantification of local blood oxygen saturation (LSO2) [1]. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of this qBOLD protocol for application to mouse kidneys. Specifically, we optimized imaging sequences and protocols that enable mapping of T2, T2* (before and after the injection of a contrast agent), blood volume fraction (BVf) and Bo.