Objective Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) derived apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) has demonstrated incon- sistent results in pulmonary nodule differentiation. Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), which quantifies non-Gaussian diffusion, is believed to better characterize tissue micro-structure than conventional DWI. Purpose: To assess the feasibility of DKI in human lungs and to compare its diagnostic value with standard DWI in differentiating malignancies from benign pulmonary nodules. Methods Thirty-five pulmonary nodules in 32 consecutive patients were evaluated by DKI by using 3b- values of 0, 500, and 1000s/mm2 and conventional DWI with b values of 0 and 800s/mm2 . Two observers independently evaluated and compared diagnostic accuracy of mean kurtosis (MK) and ADC values in differentiating malignancies from benign pulmonary nodules. The intra- and inter-observer repeatability (intra-class correlation coefficient [ICC]) were also assessed for each derived measures. Results The diagnostic accuracy, and the area under curve (AUC) in differentiating malignancies from benign pulmonary nodule, were not significantly higher for MK (Obs. 1a: 85.70%, 0.87; Obs. 1b: 80.00%, 0.80; and Obs. 2: 82.80%, 0.91) as compared to ADC (Obs. 1a: 77.14%, 0.81; Obs. 1b: 80.00%, 0.85; and Obs. 2: 77.14%, 0.85 respectively). The intraand inter-observer agreement (ICC) for malignant and benign lesions was substantial for each reading. Conclusion The initial results of this study indicate the feasibility of DKI in human lungs. MK values provide more clinical in formation than ADC values for differential diagnosis of malignant and benign pulmonary nodule。