Toward Precision and Reproducibility of Diffusion Tensor Imaging: A Multicenter Diffusion Phantom and Traveling Volunteer Study

E.M. Palacios; A.J. Martin; M.A. Boss; F. Ezekiel; Y.S. Chang; E.L. Yuh; M.J. Vassar; D.M. Schnyer; C.L. MacDonald; K.L. Crawford; A. Irimia; A.W. Toga; P. Mukherjee

doi:10.3174/ajnr.A5025

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Fig 1.
Prototype isotropic diffusion phantom in a 3D-printed shell from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
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Fig 2.
ADC measurements obtained across all 13 scanners in TRACK-TBI. The measured ADC in units of 10⁻⁶ mm²/s for vials containing 0%–50% PVP are plotted for each TRACK-TBI MR imaging system. The NIST phantom allows 3 measures of 0% PVP and 2 measures of each of the 10%–50% PVP concentrations. Data are shown for the central vial (triangle), inner vials (squares), and outer vials (circles) of the phantom.
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Fig 3.
Global non-normalized DTI parameters and CoV across sites. Red indicates Siemens; Blue, GE Healthcare; Green, Phillips Healthcare. By order of sites, see Table 1.
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Fig 4.
Graphic representation of CoVs across all 13 scanners. The coefficient of variation (percentage) is in orange. Mean non-normalized DTI parameters are in gray. r indicates right; l, left; SLF, superior longitudinal fasciculus; SFO, superior fronto-occipital fasciculus; CST, corticospinal tract; CC, corpus callosum; CING, cingulum corticospinal tract; ACR, anterior corona radiata; ALIC, anterior limb of internal capsule; PCR, posterior corona radiata; PLIC, posterior limb of internal capsule; PTR, posterior thalamic radiation; EC, external capsule; UNC, uncinate fasciculus.

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Table 1:

DTI acquisition protocol for the 11 academic medical centers^{^a}

Site	Scanner	Vendor	Model and Field (Tesla)	Software Version	Head Coil (Channels)	Voxel Size	Flip Angle	TR (ms)	TE (ms)	Directions	Sections	Matrix	b-Value	B0
1	Trio	Siemens	Trio 3T	syngo MR B17	12	2.7	90°	9000	94	64	64	128 × 84	1300	8
2a	Skyra	Siemens	Skyra 3T	syngo MR D13	12	2.7	90°	9000	92	64	59	128 × 84	1300	8
2b	Trio	Siemens	Trio 3T	syngo MR B17	12	2.7	90°	9000	94	64	59	128 × 84	1300	8
3	MR750	GE	MR750 3T	DV24.0_RO1_1344	8	2.7	90°	9050	81	60	59	128 × 128	1300	8
4	Signa	GE	Signa 3T	HD16.0_V02_1131a	8	2.7	90°	14,000	83	60	54	128 × 128	1000	8
5	Trio	Siemens	Trio 3T	syngo MB B17	12	2.7	90°	9000	94	64	59	128 × 84	1300	8
6	Trio	Siemens	Trio 3T	syngo MR B17	12	2.7	90°	9000	94	64	59	128 × 84	1300	8
7a	MR750	GE	MR750 3T	DV24.0_R01_1344	8	2.7	90°	9000	81	60	59	128 × 128	1300	8
7b	Trio	Siemens	Trio 3T	syngo MR B17	12	2.7	90°	9000	94	64	59	128 × 84	1300	8
8	Skyra	Siemens	Skyra 3T	syngo MR D13	20	2.7	90°	9000	92	64	59	128 × 84	1300	8
9	Signa	GE	Signa 3T	HD16.0_V02_1131a	8	2.7	90°	14,000	88	60	54	128 × 128	1300	8
10	Achieva	Phillips	Achieva 3T	U3.2.3, U3.2.3.1	8	2.7	90°	9000	71	64	59	128 × 125	1300	8
11	Ingenia	Phillips	Ingenia 3T	U5.1.2, U5.1.2.0	15	2.7	90°	9000	94	64	59	128 × 126	1300	8

↵a Sites 2 and 7 participated in the study with 2 different scanners each.

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Table 2:

Mean ADC, SD, and CoV for each concentration of PVP

Vial	All MR Imaging Systems (n = 13)			Trio Only (n = 5)
Vial	Mean ADC	SD	CoV	Mean ADC	SD	CoV
0% PVP	1123	23	2.1%	1105	15	1.4%
10% PVP	850	24	2.8%	829	13	1.6%
20% PVP	607	19	3.1%	596	14	2.3%
30% PVP	408	16	3.8%	399	16	4.0%
40% PVP	238	11	4.6%	237	13	5.5%
50% PVP	113	15	13.0%	105	16	15.2%

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Table 3:

Mean DTI parameters across all 13 scanners and their CoV

	FA	CoV%^{^a}	CoV%^{^b}	MD	CoV%^{^a}	CoV%^{^b}	AD	CoV%^{^a}	CoV%^{^b}	RD	CoV%^{^a}	CoV%^{^b}
Global	0.41	4.16	NA	0.73	2.44	NA	1.08	3.41	NA	0.55	2.57	NA
SLFl	0.44	2.64	3.93	0.70	4.14	2.34	1.06	4.04	1.51	0.52	4.66	3.75
SLFr	0.43	3.38	2.44	0.71	2.56	0.99	1.07	3.38	1.07	0.53	2.60	1.68
SFOl	0.46	3.60	4.47	0.65	4.68	3.30	1.00	3.94	2.56	0.47	5.86	4.80
SFOr	0.45	4.72	4.22	0.67	4.94	3.62	1.03	4.82	2.55	0.50	5.90	5.19
CSTl	0.56	5.18	2.36	0.69	6.95	6.10	1.16	7.10	6.20	0.45	8.67	7.04
CSTr	0.58	5.39	3.22	0.67	6.61	5.71	1.14	6.61	5.37	0.43	8.97	7.46
CINGl	0.54	4.35	3.47	0.72	3.57	1.95	1.21	3.28	1.93	0.48	5.68	3.85
CINGr	0.50	4.42	2.69	0.74	3.77	1.66	1.20	4.43	1.79	0.51	4.39	2.65
GenuCC	0.67	5.29	3.52	0.76	4.04	4.45	1.47	3.10	1.99	0.41	10.11	9.82
BodyCC	0.66	2.60	3.32	0.82	3.05	1.97	1.56	2.66	1.97	0.44	5.41	4.18
SpleniumCC	0.74	2.56	2.20	0.70	3.11	2.26	1.44	2.76	1.68	0.32	7.30	5.81
ACRl	0.45	5.10	2.84	0.73	2.88	2.17	1.13	3.40	1.63	0.53	4.00	3.15
ACRr	0.44	5.22	3.15	0.72	4.09	3.05	1.13	4.75	2.39	0.52	4.56	3.93
PCRl	0.46	2.18	3.94	0.74	3.64	1.89	1.15	3.38	1.45	0.54	4.22	3.17
PCRr	0.46	2.86	2.30	0.74	2.82	1.64	1.13	2.83	1.99	0.54	3.49	1.79
ALICl	0.55	4.84	2.49	0.70	3.75	2.42	1.19	4.91	2.10	0.45	5.05	3.88
ALICr	0.54	6.22	3.10	0.71	3.63	2.35	1.20	4.85	2.22	0.46	5.55	4.09
PLICl	0.66	2.99	4.05	0.65	6.23	4.47	1.24	6.16	3.36	0.36	4.38	3.42
PLICr	0.64	3.78	3.54	0.67	4.38	2.78	1.25	4.44	1.84	0.38	6.95	5.67
PTRl	0.55	2.13	3.26	0.80	4.40	2.65	1.36	4.78	2.16	0.52	4.37	3.38
PTRr	0.52	3.08	1.96	0.78	3.42	1.31	1.29	3.96	1.01	0.52	3.76	1.97
ECl	0.38	7.31	4.06	0.76	2.77	1.89	1.10	3.67	1.22	0.60	3.77	2.78
ECr	0.37	7.75	4.12	0.78	2.73	1.39	1.11	4.20	1.55	0.62	3.20	1.77
UNCl	0.42	7.66	6.05	0.77	5.66	4.90	1.14	6.00	4.27	0.58	7.03	6.55
UNCr	0.43	5.57	2.94	0.75	5.97	5.00	1.14	6.60	4.84	0.56	6.29	5.43

Note:—r indicates right; l, left; SLF, superior longitudinal fasciculus; SFO, superior fronto-occipital fasciculus; CST, corticospinal tract; CC, corpus callosum; CING, cingulum corticospinal tract; ACR, anterior corona radiata; PCR, posterior corona radiata; PLIC, posterior limb of internal capsule; ALIC, anterior limb of internal capsule; PTR, posterior thalamic radiation; EC, external capsule; UNC, uncinate fasciculus; NA, not applicable.
↵a CoV across sites.
↵b CoV across sites normalized by the mean FA.

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Table 4:

Intrascanner DTI measures for site 3 and their CoV

	FA	CoV%^{^a}	CoV%^{^b}	MD	CoV%^{^a}	CoV%^{^b}	AD	CoV%^{^a}	CoV%^{^b}	RD	CoV%^{^a}	CoV%^{^b}
Global	0.41	0.73	NA	0.76	0.16	NA	1.13	0.19	NA	0.57	0.42	NA
SLFl	0.43	0.52	0.53	0.74	1.30	1.17	1.12	1.12	1.26	0.55	1.50	1.10
SLFr	0.43	3.08	3.79	0.73	1.12	1.19	1.10	0.27	0.16	0.55	2.04	2.38
SFOl	0.44	4.03	3.33	0.70	4.31	4.16	1.08	2.75	2.82	0.51	6.08	5.65
SFOr	0.45	1.94	1.43	0.73	0.19	0.13	1.13	0.85	0.66	0.53	1.28	0.94
CSTl	0.59	3.81	3.19	0.68	1.16	1.03	1.20	1.46	1.44	0.42	4.50	4.08
CSTr	0.61	3.62	2.94	0.65	2.18	2.02	1.16	0.57	0.59	0.40	4.65	4.23
CINGl	0.52	1.75	1.23	0.77	1.34	1.27	1.27	1.34	1.15	0.52	2.13	1.92
CINGr	0.48	2.65	2.23	0.78	1.40	1.26	1.24	1.38	1.37	0.54	2.49	2.16
GenuCC	0.67	0.94	0.21	0.80	0.60	0.45	1.55	0.40	0.26	0.42	1.80	1.39
BodyCC	0.54	0.46	0.29	0.87	1.79	1.64	1.62	1.58	1.69	0.49	2.18	1.76
SpleniumCC	0.75	0.97	0.27	0.70	1.86	1.72	1.47	1.07	1.20	0.31	3.73	3.31
ACRl	0.46	0.97	0.80	0.77	0.05	0.11	1.20	0.42	0.26	0.55	0.43	0.40
ACRr	0.46	0.57	0.97	0.77	0.27	0.21	1.21	0.06	0.16	0.55	0.50	0.57
PCRl	0.47	0.22	0.55	0.75	0.72	0.79	1.17	0.83	0.97	0.54	0.63	0.62
PCRr	0.46	1.02	0.64	0.74	1.13	1.11	1.14	1.34	1.15	0.54	1.29	1.22
ALICl	0.56	3.00	2.44	0.75	1.81	1.71	1.29	1.51	1.32	0.48	3.60	3.31
ALICr	0.55	2.87	2.28	0.77	0.92	1.07	1.33	2.73	2.66	0.50	1.49	1.09
PLICl	0.66	1.29	0.64	0.72	2.94	2.82	1.36	2.20	2.36	0.40	4.22	3.82
PLICr	0.66	0.82	0.98	0.71	0.70	0.57	1.35	0.18	0.35	0.40	1.74	1.56
PTRl	0.55	1.36	0.74	0.83	1.71	1.68	1.42	1.01	1.20	0.53	2.67	2.41
PTRr	0.53	0.67	1.13	0.80	1.46	1.31	1.33	1.71	1.80	0.53	1.25	0.84
ECl	0.41	3.16	2.45	0.79	1.12	0.96	1.17	1.14	0.99	0.60	2.23	1.81
ECr	0.40	1.70	1.17	0.81	0.48	0.34	1.18	0.37	0.18	0.63	1.05	0.69
Fornix	0.39	5.87	5.17	0.13	1.13	1.00	2.01	1.05	0.89	0.10	3.19	2.78
UNCl	0.44	6.63	5.96	0.84	6.53	6.38	1.29	4.17	4.22	0.62	9.17	8.75
UNCr	0.44	4.17	3.53	0.84	3.47	3.36	1.28	2.00	2.15	0.61	5.13	4.76

Note:—r indicates right; l, left; SLF, superior longitudinal fasciculus; SFO, superior fronto-occipital fasciculus; CST, corticospinal tract; CC, corpus callosum; CING, cingulum corticospinal tract; ACR, anterior corona radiata; PCR, posterior corona radiata; PLIC, posterior limb of internal capsule; ALIC, anterior limb of internal capsule; PTR, posterior thalamic radiation; EC, external capsule; UNC, uncinate fasciculus, NA, not applicable.
↵a CoV across sites.
↵b CoV across sites normalized by the mean FA.