Data Preparation Protocol for Low Signal-to-Noise Ratio Fluorine-19 MRI.

Fluorine-19 MRI shows great promise for a wide range of applications including renal imaging, yet the typically low signal-to-noise ratios and sparse signal distribution necessitate a thorough data preparation.This chapter describes a general data preparation workflow for fluorine MRI experiments. The main processing steps are: (1) estimation of noise level, (2) correction of noise-induced bias and (3) background subtraction. The protocol is supplemented by an example script and toolbox available online.This chapter is based upon work from the COST Action PARENCHIMA, a community-driven network funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program of the European Union, which aims to improve the reproducibility and standardization of renal MRI biomarkers. This analysis protocol chapter is complemented by two separate chapters describing the basic concept and experimental procedure.