Toshiba has initiated a multi-center trial which compares non-contrast time-slip angiography and other diagnostic imaging techniques, including digital subtraction x-ray angiography in the diagnosis of renal artery stenosis.

Toshiba has developed advanced non-contrast MR angiography techniques, allowing certain MRA exams to be performed without contrast, to improve imaging safety for all patients, including those with kidney issues.

The Time-SLIP non-contrast MRA technique can be applied to many regions of the body and is useful for evaluating hemodynamic velocity, functional assessments and visualization of vascular structures.

The study will be a prospective registry of consecutive subjects undergoing medically necessary non-contrast renal MRA exams for the evaluation of renal artery stenosis and will evaluate the utility of non-contrast renal MRA and validate Time-SLIP as a robust technique for non-contrast imaging.

Toshiba MR Business Unit director Stuart Clarkson said that in evaluating Toshiba’s non-contrast Time-SLIP Renal MR Angiography to other established diagnostic imaging techniques, we hope to show how non-contrast MRA is a valuable non-invasive tool providing clear, high-resolution images of the renal arteries without the need for contrast.

"Using non-contrast techniques eliminates the risks associated with gadolinium-based contrast agents such as the rare and sometimes fatal skin disease Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis or Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NSF/NFD)," Clarkson said.