The effects of cardiac gating, flow compensation, and robust fitting on diffusion kurtosis imaging of the kidneys

Motivation: The effects of cardiac gating and flow compensation on renal diffusion-weighted imaging have been investigated in the literature. Additionally, advanced diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) processing algorithms exist that use redundant information in directional diffusion-weighted acquisitions to derive better DKI fits. Goal(s): Our goal was to understand and mitigate the impact of flow on DKI parameters to improve quantitative DKI. Approach: We tested these methods on multidirectional DKI acquisitions of the kidneys which are affected by a combination of cardiac and breathing motion. Results: These considerations mitigated artifact and flow effects on the kidney DKI and guided a regime for focused microstructural sensitization Impact: Cardiac gating, flow compensation, and advanced processing pipelines mitigate artifacts and flow effects on diffusion kurtosis imaging of the kidney and allow more specific renal microstructural investigations.