Reduction of noise in medullary renograms from dynamic MR images

Dynamic magnetic resonance images of the kidney can be used to acquire separate renograms of the cortex and medulla. A high-quality cortical renogram can be determined directly from a region of interest (ROI) placed in the cortex. Due to partial volume effects, part of the signal from a ROI placed in the medulla is caused by cortical tissue. By subtracting a fraction of the cortical signal from the cortico-medullary signal, a purer medullary renogram can be obtained. A side effect of this subtraction is an increase in noise level. The noise level increases with larger partial volume fractions. Using a matched image filter, it is possible to exclude those areas from the ROI that have a high partial volume content, thus reducing the amount of cortical signal that has to be separated from the medullary signal. Noise reductions of up to 50% have been achieved in the medullary renogram, with an average reduction of 23%.