PURPOSE To evaluate if a three-component model correctly describes the diffusion signal in the kidney and whether it can provide complementary anatomical or physiological information about the underlying tissue. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten healthy volunteers were examined at 3T, with T2 -weighted imaging, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM). Diffusion tensor parameters (mean diffusivity [MD] and fractional anisotropy [FA]) were obtained by iterative weighted linear least squares fitting of the DTI data and mono-, bi-, and triexponential fit parameters (D1 , D2 , D3 , ffast2 , ffast3 , and finterm ) using a nonlinear fit of the IVIM data. Average parameters were calculated for three regions of interest (ROIs) (cortex, medulla, and rest) and from fiber tractography. Goodness of fit was assessed with adjusted R2 ( Radj2) and the Shapiro-Wilk test was used to test residuals for normality. Maps of diffusion parameters were also visually compared. RESULTS Fitting the diffusion signal was feasible for all models. The three-component model was best able to describe fast signal decay at low b values (b 0.05) between the diffusion constant of the medulla and cortex, whereas the ffast component of the two and three-component models were significantly different (P