Neil Peter Jerome1, Jessica K R Boult1, Matthew Orton1, David J. Collins1, 2, Simon P. Robinson1, Dow-Mu Koh2
1CRUK-EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom; 2Department of Radiology, Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom
The superior hardware and development of clinical MR imaging systems make them attractive for preclinical studies; limited signal, and thus spatial resolution, for small animal work can in part be overcome by use of parallel imaging with combinations of vendor coils. We demonstrate the use of a clinical 1.5 T system in acquiring diffusion images of normal rat kidney with isotropic resolution 1.5 mm3, and show sensitivity to changes in diffusion and flow parameters obtained from fitting ADC and IVIM diffusion models following administration of hydralazine (systemic vasodilator), furosemide (loop diuretic), and angiotensin II (systemic vasoconstrictor).