Michael Hofer1, Gernot Reishofer2,
Stephen Keeling3, Michael Riccabona4, Manuela Aschauer5,
Rudolf Stollberger6
1Institute of Medical Engineering,
University of Technology, Graz, Austria; 2Department of Radiology,
Medical University, Graz, Austria; 3Institute for Mathematics
& Scientific Computing, Karl Franzens University Graz, Austria; 4Department
of Pediatric Radiology, Medical University Graz, Austria; 5Department
of Radiology, Medical University Graz, Austria; 6Institute of
Medical Engineering, University of Technology Graz, Austria
For the non-invasive assessment of renal perfusion and functional parameters it is important to get tissue specific data (e.g. renal cortex, renal medulla). To overcome the problem of intensity variations, an image registration procedure was implemented which derives a virtual template image series that keeps the underlying signal time course intact. The algorithm is evaluated for a synthetic kidney phantom and in vivo DCE-MRI data. It is seen that the algorithm is robust against signal changes due to the uptake of contrast media. Our results indicate that for pixel-by-pixel evaluation of the renal blood flow, registration is mandatory.