Micro to macro scale analysis of the intact human renal arterial tree with Synchrotron Tomography.

High-resolution, three-dimensional, renal vasculature models are currently highly reliant on data obtained from rodent kidneys. Obtaining this information in a human kidney is difficult, given its size and scale. Here, we overcome this challenge through synchrotron-based imaging to profile the vasculature of an intact human kidney. Organ-wide vascular network metrics are shown to be largely conserved between human and rat kidneys. Regional and spatial heterogeneities between cortical, medullary, and hilar vascular architecture are revealed, highlighting a structural basis for renal oxygen gradients in humans. This is, to our knowledge, the first time the vasculature of a human kidney has been mapped in its entirety, with implications for understanding how the hierarchy of individual blood vessel segments collectively scales to renal function.