Multicenter reliability of diffusion tensor imaging.
A number of studies are now collecting diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data across sites. While the reliability of anatomical images has been established by a number of groups, the reliability of DTI data has not been studied as extensively. In this study, five healthy controls were recruited and imaged at eight imaging centers. Repeated measures were obtained across two imaging protocols allowing intra-subject and inter-site variability to be assessed. Regional measures within white matter were obtained for standard rotationally invariant measures: fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, radial diffusivity, and axial diffusivity. Intra-subject coefficient of variation (CV) was typically <1% for all scalars and regions. Inter-site CV increased to ~1%-3%. Inter-vendor variation was similar to inter-site variability. This variability includes differences in the actual implementation of the sequence.
Department of Radiology, University of Iowa, 500 Newton Road, Iowa City, IA 52242-1000, USA.
Vincent A
VA
Magnotta
Joy T
JT
Matsui
Dawei
D
Liu
Hans J
HJ
Johnson
Jeffrey D
JD
Long
Bradley D
BD
Bolster
Bryon A
BA
Mueller
Kelvin
K
Lim
Susumu
S
Mori
Karl G
KG
Helmer
Jessica A
JA
Turner
Sarah
S
Reading
Mark J
MJ
Lowe
Elizabeth
E
Aylward
Laura A
LA
Flashman
Greg
G
Bonett
Jane S
JS
Paulsen
D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results