Establishing a Renal Biomarker Portfolio to Determine Transplant Outcomes: Phosphorous-31 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Motivation: Up to 40% of human kidneys are discarded before transplantation. Reducing the amount of discarded human kidneys will require more objective data. Goal(s): We aim to provide quantitative MRI data about ex vivo kidneys. The scope of this particle aim is to evaluate the use of phosphorous spectroscopy. Approach: 10 ex vivo kidneys were evaluated using 31P MRS before and after 6 hours of normothermic perfusion (NMP) in a novel MRI safe perfusion chamber. Results: We evaluated 2 biomarkers for early and late stage prognosis. Within 6 hours of NMP, all 10 kidneys surpassed the early stage viability threshold. Impact: Data collected here, combined with a multitude of quantitative MRI data collected during normothermic perfusion, will provide objective data of kidney health in an isolated metabolic state. These data will guide surgeons on transplant decisions.