title: Cross-vendor validation of liver magnetic resonance elastography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate and validate the reproducibility of MR Elastography (MRE)-derived liver stiffness values on two different MR vendor platforms performed on the same subject on the same day.
  
  
  METHODS
  This investigation was approved by the hospital IRB. MRE exams were performed twice in identical fashion in eight volunteers and in five clinical patients on two different 1.5 T MR scanners-once on a Philips MR scanner and immediately afterward in back-to-back fashion on a General Electric MR scanner, or vice versa. All scan parameters were kept identical on the two platforms to the best extent possible. After the MRE magnitude and phase images were obtained, the data were converted into quantitative images displaying the stiffness of the liver parenchyma. Mean liver stiffness values between the two platforms were compared using interclass correlation with a p value <0.05 considered statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) value of 0.994 was obtained for 13 subjects with p value <0.001 indicating a significantly positive correlation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As MRE gains in acceptance and as its availability becomes more widespread, it is important to ascertain and confirm that liver stiffness values obtained on different MRE vendor platforms are consistent and reproducible. In this small pilot investigation, we demonstrate that liver stiffness measurement with MRE is reproducible and has very good consistency across two vendor platforms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA, suraj.serai@cchmc.org.
authors.forename: Suraj D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Serai
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Ehman
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Podberesky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult