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Improvements in Between-Vendor MRI Harmonization of Renal T2 Mapping using Stimulated Echo Compensation

Li, Hao; Daniel, Alexander J.; Buchanan, Charlotte E.; Nery, Fábio; Morris, David M.; Li, Shaohang; Huang, Yuan; Sousa, João A.; Sourbron, Steven; Mendichovszky, Iosif A.; Thomas, David L.; Priest, Andrew N.; Francis, Susan T.

Improvements in Between-Vendor MRI Harmonization of Renal T2 Mapping using Stimulated Echo Compensation Thumbnail


Authors

Hao Li

Fábio Nery

David M. Morris

Shaohang Li

Yuan Huang

João A. Sousa

Steven Sourbron

Iosif A. Mendichovszky

David L. Thomas

Andrew N. Priest



Abstract

Background: T2 mapping is valuable to evaluate pathophysiology in kidney disease. However, variations in T2 relaxation time measurements across MR scanners and vendors may occur requiring additional correction. Purpose: To harmonize renal T2 measurements between MR vendor platforms, and use an extended‐phase‐graph‐based fitting method (“StimFit”) to correct stimulated echoes and reduce between‐vendor variations. Study Type: Prospective. Subjects: 8 healthy “travelling” volunteers (37.5% female, 32 ± 6 years) imaged on four MRI systems across three vendors at four sites, 10 healthy volunteers (50% female, 32 ± 8 years) scanned multiple times on a given MR scanner for repeatability evaluation. ISMRM/NIST system phantom scanned for evaluation of T2 accuracy. Field Strength/Sequence: 3T, multiecho spin‐echo sequence. Assessment: T2 images fit using conventional monoexponential fitting and “StimFit.” Mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of phantom measurements with reference T2 values. Average cortex and medulla T2 values compared between MR vendors, with masks obtained from T2‐weighted images and T1 maps. Full‐width‐at‐half‐maximum (FWHM) T2 distributions to evaluate local homogeneity of measurements. Statistical Tests: Coefficient of variation (CV), linear mixed‐effects model, analysis of variance, student's t‐tests, Bland–Altman plots, P‐value <0.05 considered statistically significant. Results: In the ISMRM/NIST phantom, “StimFit” reduced the MAPE from 4.9%, 9.1%, 24.4%, and 18.1% for the four sites (three vendors) to 3.3%, 3.0%, 6.6%, and 4.1%, respectively. In vivo, there was a significant difference in kidney T2 measurements between vendors using a monoexponential fit, but not with “StimFit” (P = 0.86 and 0.92, cortex and medulla, respectively). The intervendor CVs of T2 measures were reduced from 8.0% to 2.6% (cortex) and 7.1% to 2.8% (medulla) with StimFit, resulting in no significant differences for the CVs of intravendor repeat acquisitions (P = 0.13 and 0.05). “StimFit” significantly reduced the FWHM of T2 distributions in the cortex and whole kidney. Data Conclusion: Stimulated‐echo correction reduces renal T2 variation across MR vendor platforms. Level of Evidence: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1

Citation

Li, H., Daniel, A. J., Buchanan, C. E., Nery, F., Morris, D. M., Li, S., Huang, Y., Sousa, J. A., Sourbron, S., Mendichovszky, I. A., Thomas, D. L., Priest, A. N., & Francis, S. T. (2024). Improvements in Between-Vendor MRI Harmonization of Renal T2 Mapping using Stimulated Echo Compensation. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 60(5), 2144-2155. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.29282

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 23, 2024
Online Publication Date Feb 21, 2024
Publication Date 2024-11
Deposit Date Jan 24, 2024
Publicly Available Date Feb 22, 2025
Journal Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Print ISSN 1053-1807
Electronic ISSN 1522-2586
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 60
Issue 5
Pages 2144-2155
DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.29282
Keywords T2 mapping, kidney, multi-echo spin-echo, stimulated echo compensation, harmonization, extended phase graph
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/30113903
Publisher URL https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jmri.29282
Additional Information Received: 2023-11-09; Accepted: 2024-01-23; Published: 2024-02-21

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Magnetic Resonance Imaging - 2024 - Li - Improvements in Between‐Vendor MRI Harmonization of Renal T2 Mapping using (2.6 Mb)
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Publisher Licence URL
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.




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