Cross‐vendor harmonization of T2‐relaxation‐under‐spin‐tagging (TRUST) MRI for the assessment of cerebral venous oxygenation

• Published in: Magnetic resonance in medicine Vol. 80; no. 3; pp. 1125 - 1131
• Main Authors: Jiang, Dengrong, Liu, Peiying, Li, Yang, Mao, Deng, Xu, Cuimei, Lu, Hanzhang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.09.2018
• Subjects: Biomarkers; Brain; Coefficient of variation; Confidence intervals; Hyperoxia; Magnetic resonance imaging; Marking; Metabolism; Neuroimaging; Oxygenation; Parameters; Reproducibility; Scanners; Sensitivity analysis; TRUST; variation; vendor; venous oxygenation
• ISSN: 0740-3194; 1522-2594; 1522-2594
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.27080

Purpose Cerebral venous oxygenation (Yv) is an important physiological parameter and has potential clinical application in many brain diseases. T2‐relaxation‐under‐spin‐tagging (TRUST) is a commonly used MRI method to measure Yv. Harmonization of this technique across MRI vendors is important for dissemination and multicenter studies of brain oxygenation and metabolism as a disease biomarker. Methods TRUST pulse sequence components and imaging parameters were carefully matched between two major MRI vendors, Philips and Siemens. Each subject (N = 10) was scanned on both scanners within a 2.5‐h period. On each scanner, the subject was scanned in two sessions to assess intersession reproducibility. A hyperoxia challenge was also included in both sessions and on both scanners to evaluate the sensitivity of the technique to Yv changes. Measured Yv values, confidence interval of Yv estimates ( εYv), as well as intrasession and intersession coefficient of variation (CoV) of Yv, were compared between the two scanners. Results Yv measured on the two vendors were highly compatible and strongly correlated (R2 = 0.957). Yv changes associated with hyperoxia challenge were significant on both scanners (P < 0.001) and were also correlated across scanners (P = 0.007). Intrasession and intersession CoV of measured Yv were less than 3% and showed no difference between scanners. εYv were less than 1% on both scanners and showed no difference between scanners when echo times were matched on the two scanners. Conclusion This work suggests that harmonized TRUST MRI can yield highly compatible Yv measurements across different vendors. Magn Reson Med 80:1125–1131, 2018. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.