Stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) diffusion tensor imaging with different diffusion encoding times in the supraspinatus muscle: Test–retest reliability and comparison to spin echo diffusion tensor imaging

• Published in: NMR in biomedicine Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. e5279 - n/a
• Main Authors: Marth, Adrian Alexander, Sommer, Stefan, Feiweier, Thorsten, Sutter, Reto, Nanz, Daniel, Deuster, Constantin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2025; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Anisotropy; Coding; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Diffusion; diffusion tensor imaging; Diffusion Tensor Imaging - methods; Female; Humans; Image acquisition; Image processing; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; muscle; Muscle, Skeletal - diagnostic imaging; Muscles; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Signal-To-Noise Ratio; Skeletal muscle; Steam; stimulated Echo; Tensors; Time dependence; Time Factors; Variance analysis; stimulated Echo; diffusion tensor imaging; muscle
• ISSN: 0952-3480; 1099-1492; 1099-1492
• DOI: 10.1002/nbm.5279

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) provides insight into the skeletal muscle microstructure and can be acquired using a stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM)‐based approach to quantify time‐dependent tissue diffusion. This study examined diffusion metrics and signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) in the supraspinatus muscle obtained with a STEAM‐DTI sequence with different diffusion encoding times (Δ) and compared them to measures from a spin echo (SE) sequence. Ten healthy subjects (mean age 31.5 ± 4.7 years; five females) underwent 3‐Tesla STEAM and SE‐DTI of the shoulder in three sessions. STEAM was acquired with Δ of 100/200/400/600 ms. The diffusion encoding time in SE scans was 19 ms (b = 500 s/mm2). Region of interest‐based measurement of fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), and SNR was performed. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were computed to assess test–retest reliability. ANOVA with post‐hoc pairwise tests was used to compare measures between different Δ of STEAM as well as STEAM and SE, respectively. FA was significantly higher (FASTEAM: 0.38–0.46 vs. FASE: 0.26) and MD significantly lower (MDSTEAM: 1.20–1.33 vs. MDSE: 1.62 × 10−3 mm2/s) in STEAM compared to SE (p < 0.001, respectively). SNR was significantly higher for SE (72.3 ± 8.7) than for STEAM (p < 0.001). ICCs were excellent for FA in STEAM (≥0.911) and SE (0.960). For MD, ICCs were good for STEAM100ms–600ms (≥0.759) and SE (0.752). STEAM and SE exhibited excellent reliability for FA and good reliability for MD in the supraspinatus muscle. SNR was significantly higher in SE compared to STEAM. This study evaluated diffusion metrics (fractional anisotropy [FA], mean diffusivity [MD]) and signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) in the supraspinatus muscle obtained with a stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) sequence with different mixing times and compared them to measurements obtained with a spin echo (SE) sequence. STEAM resulted in higher FA and lower MD compared to SE. SNR decreased with increasing STEAM mixing time. Test–retest reliability for diffusion metrics was good to excellent for both STEAM and SE.