Supporting corticomedullary differentiation for kidney ADC mapping with T1-weighted EPI

Motivation: Previous studies have demonstrated a correlation between kidney fibrosis and corticomedullary difference in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). However, separately measuring ADC in cortex and medulla is challenging due to the low contrast between the tissues. Goal(s): To facilitate measurement of corticomedullary ADC. Approach: T1-weighted, distortion-matched echo planar imaging (EPI) with high corticomedullary contrast were acquired in addition to diffusion weighted EPI. Regions-of-interest were performed in the T1-weighted images and propagated to the distortion-matched ADC maps to obtain measurements. Results: Corticomedullary ADC differences were obtained in four datasets from two healthy volunteers with values within the range of previously published values. Impact: T1-weighted, distortion-matched EPI with high corticomedullary contrast greatly facilitates measurements of cortex and medulla in diffusion weighted EPI.