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Multi-centre, multi-vendor reproducibility of 7T QSM and R2* in the human brain: Results from the UK7T study.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Article

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Authors

Rua, Catarina 
Clarke, William T 
Driver, Ian D 
Mougin, Olivier 
Morgan, Andrew T 

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: We present the reliability of ultra-high field T2* MRI at 7T, as part of the UK7T Network's "Travelling Heads" study. T2*-weighted MRI images can be processed to produce quantitative susceptibility maps (QSM) and R2* maps. These reflect iron and myelin concentrations, which are altered in many pathophysiological processes. The relaxation parameters of human brain tissue are such that R2* mapping and QSM show particularly strong gains in contrast-to-noise ratio at ultra-high field (7T) vs clinical field strengths (1.5-3T). We aimed to determine the inter-subject and inter-site reproducibility of QSM and R2* mapping at 7T, in readiness for future multi-site clinical studies. METHODS: Ten healthy volunteers were scanned with harmonised single- and multi-echo T2*-weighted gradient echo pulse sequences. Participants were scanned five times at each "home" site and once at each of four other sites. The five sites had 1× Philips, 2× Siemens Magnetom, and 2× Siemens Terra scanners. QSM and R2* maps were computed with the Multi-Scale Dipole Inversion (MSDI) algorithm (https://github.com/fil-physics/Publication-Code). Results were assessed in relevant subcortical and cortical regions of interest (ROIs) defined manually or by the MNI152 standard space. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Mean susceptibility (χ) and R2* values agreed broadly with literature values in all ROIs. The inter-site within-subject standard deviation was 0.001-0.005 ppm (χ) and 0.0005-0.001 ms-1 (R2*). For χ this is 2.1-4.8 fold better than 3T reports, and 1.1-3.4 fold better for R2*. The median ICC from within- and cross-site R2* data was 0.98 and 0.91, respectively. Multi-echo QSM had greater variability vs single-echo QSM especially in areas with large B0 inhomogeneity such as the inferior frontal cortex. Across sites, R2* values were more consistent than QSM in subcortical structures due to differences in B0-shimming. On a between-subject level, our measured χ and R2* cross-site variance is comparable to within-site variance in the literature, suggesting that it is reasonable to pool data across sites using our harmonised protocol. CONCLUSION: The harmonized UK7T protocol and pipeline delivers on average a 3-fold improvement in the coefficient of reproducibility for QSM and R2* at 7T compared to previous reports of multi-site reproducibility at 3T. These protocols are ready for use in multi-site clinical studies at 7T.

Description

Keywords

7 tesla, MRI, Multi-centre, Quantitative susceptibility mapping, R(2)* mapping, Reproducibility, Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Reproducibility of Results

Journal Title

Neuroimage

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1053-8119
1095-9572

Volume Title

223

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (Unknown)
Wellcome Trust (098436/Z/12/B)
Medical Research Council (MR/N008537/1)
Medical Research Council (MR/M008983/1)
Isaac Newton Trust (15.40(d))
Wellcome Trust (103838/Z/14/Z)
Wellcome Trust (098436/Z/12/Z)
Medical Research Council (MC_U105597119)
Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00005/12)
The UK7T Network and this work was funded by the UK's Medical Research Council (MRC) [MR/N008537/1]. We thank Dr. Julio Acosta-Cabronero for making the QSMbox publicly available and Prof. David Porter for his support in the UK7T network. 7. Centre funding The Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging is supported by core funding from the Wellcome Trust (203139/Z/16/Z). Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MR/M008932/1) and the Wellcome Trust (WT104943). This research was co-funded by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. The Cambridge 7T MRI facility is co-funded by the University of Cambridge and the Medical Research Council (MR/M008983/1). 8. Individual funding CTR is funded by a Sir Henry Dale Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society [098436/Z/12/B]. JBR is supported by the Wellcome Trust (WT103838).
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