Reliability of spinal cord measures based on synthetic T1-weighted MRI derived from multiparametric mapping (MPM)
Short MRI acquisition time, high signal-to-noise ratio, and high reliability are crucial for image quality when scanning healthy volunteers and patients. Cross-sectional cervical cord area (CSA) has been suggested as a marker of neurodegeneration and potential outcome measure in clinical trials and...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-05-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811923001921 |
| _version_ | 1797853011373981696 |
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| author | Simon Schading Maryam Seif Tobias Leutritz Markus Hupp Armin Curt Nikolaus Weiskopf Patrick Freund |
| author_facet | Simon Schading Maryam Seif Tobias Leutritz Markus Hupp Armin Curt Nikolaus Weiskopf Patrick Freund |
| author_sort | Simon Schading |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Short MRI acquisition time, high signal-to-noise ratio, and high reliability are crucial for image quality when scanning healthy volunteers and patients. Cross-sectional cervical cord area (CSA) has been suggested as a marker of neurodegeneration and potential outcome measure in clinical trials and is conventionally measured on T1-weigthed 3D Magnetization Prepared Rapid Acquisition Gradient-Echo (MPRAGE) images. This study aims to reduce the acquisition time for the comprehensive assessment of the spinal cord, which is typically based on MPRAGE for morphometry and multi-parameter mapping (MPM) for microstructure. The MPRAGE is replaced by a synthetic T1-w MRI (synT1-w) estimated from the MPM, in order to measure CSA. SynT1-w images were reconstructed using the MPRAGE signal equation based on quantitative maps of proton density (PD), longitudinal (R1) and effective transverse (R2*) relaxation rates. The reliability of CSA measurements from synT1-w images was determined within a multi-center test-retest study format and validated against acquired MPRAGE scans by assessing the agreement between both methods. The response to pathological changes was tested by longitudinally measuring spinal cord atrophy following spinal cord injury (SCI) for synT1-w and MPRAGE using linear mixed effect models. CSA measurements based on the synT1-w MRI showed high intra-site (Coefficient of variation [CoV]: 1.43% to 2.71%) and inter-site repeatability (CoV: 2.90% to 5.76%), and only a minor deviation of -1.65 mm2 compared to MPRAGE. Crucially, by assessing atrophy rates and by comparing SCI patients with healthy controls longitudinally, differences between synT1-w and MPRAGE were negligible. These results demonstrate that reliable estimates of CSA can be obtained from synT1-w images, thereby reducing scan time significantly. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:42:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cdf43f77a0b948dd8b9507ce60a27ab4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1095-9572 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:42:30Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage |
| spelling | doaj.art-cdf43f77a0b948dd8b9507ce60a27ab42023-04-04T04:08:36ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722023-05-01271120046Reliability of spinal cord measures based on synthetic T1-weighted MRI derived from multiparametric mapping (MPM)Simon Schading0Maryam Seif1Tobias Leutritz2Markus Hupp3Armin Curt4Nikolaus Weiskopf5Patrick Freund6Spinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Forchstrasse 340, Zurich 8008, SwitzerlandSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Forchstrasse 340, Zurich 8008, Switzerland; Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, GermanyDepartment of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, GermanySpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Forchstrasse 340, Zurich 8008, SwitzerlandSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Forchstrasse 340, Zurich 8008, SwitzerlandDepartment of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Felix Bloch Institute for Solid State Physics, Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences, Leipzig University, Leipzig, GermanySpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Forchstrasse 340, Zurich 8008, Switzerland; Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, London, UK; Corresponding author at: Spinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, University of Zurich, Forchstrasse 340, Zurich 8008, Switzerland.Short MRI acquisition time, high signal-to-noise ratio, and high reliability are crucial for image quality when scanning healthy volunteers and patients. Cross-sectional cervical cord area (CSA) has been suggested as a marker of neurodegeneration and potential outcome measure in clinical trials and is conventionally measured on T1-weigthed 3D Magnetization Prepared Rapid Acquisition Gradient-Echo (MPRAGE) images. This study aims to reduce the acquisition time for the comprehensive assessment of the spinal cord, which is typically based on MPRAGE for morphometry and multi-parameter mapping (MPM) for microstructure. The MPRAGE is replaced by a synthetic T1-w MRI (synT1-w) estimated from the MPM, in order to measure CSA. SynT1-w images were reconstructed using the MPRAGE signal equation based on quantitative maps of proton density (PD), longitudinal (R1) and effective transverse (R2*) relaxation rates. The reliability of CSA measurements from synT1-w images was determined within a multi-center test-retest study format and validated against acquired MPRAGE scans by assessing the agreement between both methods. The response to pathological changes was tested by longitudinally measuring spinal cord atrophy following spinal cord injury (SCI) for synT1-w and MPRAGE using linear mixed effect models. CSA measurements based on the synT1-w MRI showed high intra-site (Coefficient of variation [CoV]: 1.43% to 2.71%) and inter-site repeatability (CoV: 2.90% to 5.76%), and only a minor deviation of -1.65 mm2 compared to MPRAGE. Crucially, by assessing atrophy rates and by comparing SCI patients with healthy controls longitudinally, differences between synT1-w and MPRAGE were negligible. These results demonstrate that reliable estimates of CSA can be obtained from synT1-w images, thereby reducing scan time significantly.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811923001921Synthetic T1-weighted MRIQuantitative MRINeurodegenerationSpinal cord injuryCervical cord atrophy |
| spellingShingle | Simon Schading Maryam Seif Tobias Leutritz Markus Hupp Armin Curt Nikolaus Weiskopf Patrick Freund Reliability of spinal cord measures based on synthetic T1-weighted MRI derived from multiparametric mapping (MPM) NeuroImage Synthetic T1-weighted MRI Quantitative MRI Neurodegeneration Spinal cord injury Cervical cord atrophy |
| title | Reliability of spinal cord measures based on synthetic T1-weighted MRI derived from multiparametric mapping (MPM) |
| title_full | Reliability of spinal cord measures based on synthetic T1-weighted MRI derived from multiparametric mapping (MPM) |
| title_fullStr | Reliability of spinal cord measures based on synthetic T1-weighted MRI derived from multiparametric mapping (MPM) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reliability of spinal cord measures based on synthetic T1-weighted MRI derived from multiparametric mapping (MPM) |
| title_short | Reliability of spinal cord measures based on synthetic T1-weighted MRI derived from multiparametric mapping (MPM) |
| title_sort | reliability of spinal cord measures based on synthetic t1 weighted mri derived from multiparametric mapping mpm |
| topic | Synthetic T1-weighted MRI Quantitative MRI Neurodegeneration Spinal cord injury Cervical cord atrophy |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811923001921 |
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