Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 3, 2026
Diffusion Imaging in the Rat Cervical Spinal Cord
Published on: April 7, 2015
Measurement of magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) from cervical spinal cord: Multicenter reproducibility and
Benoit Combès1, Laureline Monteau1,2, Elise Bannier1,2
1Univ Rennes, Inria, CNRS, Inserm, IRISA UMR 6074, Visages, U1128, France.
Background:
Assessing the multicenter variability of magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) measurements in the spinal cord of healthy controls is the first step toward investigating its clinical use as a biomarker.
Purpose:
To analyze the between-session, between-participant, and between-scanner variability of MTR measurements in automatically extracted regions of interest in the cervical cord of healthy controls.
Study Type:
Control study.
Population:
Forty-four participants, distributed across five MRI scanners (all from the same manufacturer). Ten participants were scanned twice in the same scanner, and 10 others were scanned twice in two different scanners.
Field Strength/Sequence:
3D-gradient echo images, centered on C5, without and with magnetization transfer prepulse at 3T.
Assessment:
We calculated the mean MTR for different vertebral levels in the whole cord (WC), as well as in the white matter and gray matter, and determined the between-session, between-participant, and between-scanner variabilities.
Statistical Tests:
Coefficients of variation and intraclass correlations (ICCs) for the different variabilities and their associated confidence intervals.
Results:
The MTR measurements for Levels C4-C6 (near the slab center) exhibited a mean value in WC of 34.6 pu and a pooled standard deviation of 0.9 pu. The between-session coefficient of variation was estimated as 2.3% (ICC = 0.63), the between-participant coefficient as 1.6% (ICC = 0.32), and the between-scanner coefficient as 0.7% (ICC = 0.05). The resulting aggregate coefficient of variation was 2.9%, which was sufficiently low to detect an MTR reduction of 1 pu between groups of about 45 participants (Type-I error rate: 0.05; Type-II error rate: 0.10).
Data Conclusion:
The good between-scanner reproducibility and low overall variability in cervical spinal cord MTR measurements in a control population might pave the way for multicenter analyses in various neurological diseases with moderate cohort sizes.
Level Of Evidence:
2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;49:1777-1785.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:26Spinal Cord
01:54The Spinal Cord
01:10Spinal Cord: Information Processing
Sensory Information Processing
Sensory information processing begins at the sensory receptors located in the skin and other tissues, which detect somatic sensory stimuli such as touch, temperature, or pain. These receptors function as catalysts, initiating...
00:54Ratio Level of Measurement
A set of data measured using the ratio scale takes care of the ratio problem and provides complete information. Ratio scale data are like interval scale data, except they have a zero point and ratios can be calculated....
01:15Spinal Cord: Gross Anatomy
01:16Spinal Cord: Cross-sectional Anatomy
Gray Matter and its Components
Central to the gray matter is...