Three-dimensional simultaneous T1 and T2* relaxation times and quantitative susceptibility mapping at 3 T: A...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Neuroimaging
• Quantitative MRI

Background:

• Quantitative parameter mapping (QPM) offers advanced MRI analysis.
• Assessing the reliability of QPM across different sites is crucial for multicenter research.
• T1, T2*, and quantitative susceptibility (χ) are key MRI parameters.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the intra-site repeatability and cross-site reproducibility of QPM-derived T1, T2*, and χ values at 3 Tesla.
• To determine the reliability of QPM for multisite neuroimaging studies.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study involving 12 healthy volunteers across three 3T MRI scanners at different sites.
• Standardized QPM protocol used for brain scans.
• Voxel-wise and region-of-interest analyses employed to assess repeatability and reproducibility using wCV, wSD, linear regression, Bland-Altman plots, and ICC.

Main Results:

• High intra-site repeatability was observed: wCV <12% for T1, <3.5% for T2*, and wSD <3.5 ppb for χ.
• High intra-site consistency indicated by ICC values (0.878-0.976).
• Cross-site reproducibility showed wCV <14% for T1, <4% for T2*, and wSD <4.1 ppb for χ, with ICCs >0.707.

Conclusions:

• QPM provides reliable T1, T2*, and χ values with excellent intra-site repeatability and good cross-site reproducibility at 3T.
• These findings support the use of QPM in multisite clinical trials and research studies.
• QPM is a robust technique for quantitative neuroimaging across different MRI sites.