Imagine a time of early diagnostic of chronic kidney disease

Researchers are using neuroimaging tools to study renal fibrosis, the method is believed possible to displace the invasive biopsies nowadays used to diagnose patients in developing chronic kidney disease at risk.

DTI has been used previously to study kidney pathologies, but with limited success. In their latest studies, Prof Takahara and his colleagues incorporated a spin-echo sequence to DTI and a special kidney attachment to observe renal fibrosis in diabetic rats.

"In DTI, we make fractional anisotropy maps of the kidney. This identifies which regions have renal fibrosis," said Associate Professor Jun-Ya Kaimori.

Through maps prepared by the scientists of specific kidney regions, we could tell which regions had different kidney fluid dynamics in live diabetic and healthy rats.

"The cortex and outer stripe of the medulla were different," said Prof Kaimori. This distinction not only validated the new method for the detection of renal fibrosis, but also provided a target region when diagnosing diabetic patients. "The application of non-invasive techniques like MRI will help prevent progression to intractable kidney diseases," he added.