Inter-vender and test-retest reliabilities of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging: Implications for multi-center imaging studies

• Published in: Magnetic resonance imaging Vol. 44; pp. 125 - 130
• Main Authors: An, Hyeong Su, Moon, Won-Jin, Ryu, Jae-Kyun, Park, Ju Yeon, Yun, Won Sung, Choi, Jin Woo, Jahng, Geon-Ho, Park, Jang-Yeon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.12.2017
• Subjects: Adult; Brain - anatomy & histology; Brain Mapping - methods; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Prospective Studies; Reference Values; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Rest; Resting state; Signal-To-Noise Ratio; RS-fMRI; Resting state; DMN; Magnetic resonance imaging; tSNR; ICA; ICC; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; BOLD; Reliability
• ISSN: 0730-725X; 1873-5894; 1873-5894
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2017.09.001

This prospective multi-center study aimed to evaluate the inter-vendor and test-retest reliabilities of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) by assessing the temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) and functional connectivity. Study included 10 healthy subjects and each subject was scanned using three 3T MR scanners (GE Signa HDxt, Siemens Skyra, and Philips Achieva) in two sessions. The tSNR was calculated from the time course data. Inter-vendor and test-retest reliabilities were assessed with intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) derived from variant component analysis. Independent component analysis was performed to identify the connectivity of the default-mode network (DMN). In result, the tSNR for the DMN was not significantly different among the GE, Philips, and Siemens scanners (P=0.638). In terms of vendor differences, the inter-vendor reliability was good (ICC=0.774). Regarding the test-retest reliability, the GE scanner showed excellent correlation (ICC=0.961), while the Philips (ICC=0.671) and Siemens (ICC=0.726) scanners showed relatively good correlation. The DMN pattern of the subjects between the two sessions for each scanner and between three scanners showed the identical patterns of functional connectivity. The inter-vendor and test-retest reliabilities of RS-fMRI using different 3T MR scanners are good. Thus, we suggest that RS-fMRI could be used in multicenter imaging studies as a reliable imaging marker.