Systems and methods to map autoregulation of the kidney using magnetic resonance imaging

A method of mapping autoregulation of a kidney using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, comprising:

• receiving a time series of MR images of a subject, wherein the time series of MR images were acquired using a non-contrasted resting state MR imaging to detect physiological fluctuation slower than a respiratory rate of the subject by:
• acquiring the time series of MR images while the subject is at rest by:
• acquiring MR images of an imaging region repeatedly over a period of time,
• wherein the imaging region includes at least a kidney of the subject;
• analyzing the time series of MR images along a temporal dimension;
• identifying features associated with autoregulation of the kidney in voxels of the MR images based on the analysis;
• generating a map and/or a metric of the autoregulation based on the identified features;
• and
• outputting the map and/or the metric.

A method of mapping autoregulation of one or more organs outside a central nervous system of a subject using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, comprising:

• receiving a time series of MR images of a subject, wherein the time series of MR images were acquired using a non-contrasted resting state MR imaging to detect physiological fluctuation slower than a respiratory rate of the subject by:
• acquiring the time series of MR images while the subject is at rest by:
• acquiring MR images of an imaging region repeatedly over a period of time,
• wherein the imaging region includes one or more organs outside a central nervous system of the subject;
• analyzing the time series of MR images along a temporal dimension;
• identifying features associated with autoregulation of the one or more organs in voxels of the MR images based on the analysis;
• generating a map and/or a metric of the autoregulation based on the identified features;
• and
• outputting the map and/or the metric.