Implementing ABCD study^Ⓡ MRI sequences for multi-site cohort studies: Practical guide to necessary steps,...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Multisite magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies offer significant potential for advancing neuroscience.
• Scanner variability and non-standardized protocols can compromise the reliability and repeatability of MRI-derived brain measures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate a standardized MRI protocol across multiple sites and scanners.
• To assess the impact of standardization on data quality and test-retest variability for multisite research.

Main Methods:

• A standardized MRI protocol, based on the Adolescent Brain Cognition Development (ABCD) study, was implemented across two sites and four MRI scanners (Siemens, Philips, GE).
• Data included anatomical scans (T1, T2 weighted), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI).
• Standardized, containerized pipelines were used for data preprocessing, with evaluation of image quality metrics and test-retest variability.

Main Results:

• Successful implementation of standardized MRI protocols was achieved with minor adjustments for scanner-specific technical variations (e.g., repetition time, b-values, DICOM export).
• Containerized preprocessing pipelines demonstrated benefits for managing multisite data.
• Evaluation of image quality metrics and test-retest variability provided insights into protocol performance across different scanners and sites.

Conclusions:

• Standardized MRI protocols and containerized data processing are crucial for enhancing the reliability of multisite neuroscience studies.
• Careful optimization of image acquisition parameters is necessary to mitigate scanner-induced variability.
• This work offers practical guidance for implementing robust multisite neuroimaging research.