Multi-Exponential Diffusion Image Analysis (MEDIA) of the human kidney: A clinical feasibility study

Motivation: Multi-exponential signal analysis is utilised to identify underlying present diffusion components in diffusion-weighted MRI signals. Various techniques emerged in recent years, but a detailed in-vivo comparison of the fitting approaches employed in the kidney is still missing. Goal(s): Thus, we comparatively applied frequently used fitting methods and novel techniques towards precise in-vivo appliance. Approach: The study comprised 15 healthy volunteers, intended for comparison with tumour patients. Besides NLLS and NNLS techniques, the pyramidal approach was employedResults: Results demonstrated improvements for renal in-vivo data, a distinction between cortex and medulla was also accomplished. These encouraging findings conduct further investigations and comparison with pathologiesImpact: Identifying the most reliable and stable MEDIA approaches will pave the way for novel techniques. These advancements will enhance in-vivo applications, potentially allowing to distinguish between healthy and diseased tissue, recognise pathologies and long-term replace the need for biopsies.