Labeling Strategies for Whole-kidney Non-contrast Perfusion-Weighted Imaging using 3D FAIR ASL

Motivation: Flow-sensitive alternative inversion (FAIR) is one of the recommended arterial spin labeling (ASL) schemes for renal perfusion. Although FAIR can provide robust measurements, it suffers from partial-kidney coverage especially when aorta is close to or even at the same level of kidney in anterior-posterior (A/P) direction. Goal(s): To obtain whole-kidney perfusion measurements using 3D FAIR despite anatomy differences within population. Approach: Two additional labeling strategies of 3D FAIR were proposed and tested in healthy volunteers. Results: Both strategies generated robust and high-quality perfusion maps with whole-kidney coverage within a feasible clinical scan time, which is challenging for existing 3D FAIR and pCASL implementations. Impact: Our labeling strategies in 3D FAIR ASL could be valuable for early detection, diagnosis, differentiation, and management of renal diseases, including chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury, despite individual anatomy differences between patients.