MRI-Based Systems and Methods for Determining Function Capacity of the Kidney

摘要

Systems and methods for noninvasively determining the function capacity of the kidney are provided. In the methods, first contrast agent is injected into the vasculature of a subject. The contrast agent is to be bound with functioning glomeruli of the kidney of the subject. Then, the kidney is imaged with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to acquire MRI images of the kidney. In the images, signal magnitudes or phases of voxels of regions bound with the contrast agent are different from signal magnitudes or phases of voxels of regions not bound with the contrast agent. Afterwards, the function capacity of the kidney is determined using the MRI images. Lastly, a report of the function capacity of the kidney is generated.

主权项

1. A method for noninvasively determining function capacity of a kidney of a subject, the steps of the method comprising:
a) injecting a contrast agent into vasculature of the subject, wherein the contrast agent is to be bound with functioning glomeruli of the kidney; b) imaging the kidney with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to acquire MRI images of the kidney, wherein signal magnitudes and phases of voxels of regions bound with the contrast agent are different from signal magnitudes and phases of voxels of regions not bound with the contrast agent; c) determining the function capacity of the kidney using the MRI images; and d) generating a report of the function capacity of the kidney.