Inconsistent MR Acquisition in Longitudinal Volumetric Analysis for people with MS: Impacts and Solutions | Abstract | Journal

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful and flexible imaging technique in studing multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the flexibility of MRI often comes at a cost: lack of standardization and consistency across imaging studies. Despite the guidelines provided by the MAGNIMS–CMSC–NAIMS, there are still significant variations of MR acquisition in research and clincal settings. The variablity in MR acquisition poses challenges for consistent and accurate study of MS.

In our study, we investigate the impact of inconsistent MR acquisition in longitudinal volumetric analysis. We found that inconsistent acquisition has a strong negative impact on the consistency and statistical power of longitudinal analysis, thus hinders our understanding of MS. We then investigate MR harmoniation as a potential solution to mitigate this issue. Our study suggests that image harmonization effectively alleviates this negative impact, yielding nearly identical consistency as that in standardized and consistent acquisitions.

• Publications:

  • Zuo et al. Inconsistent MR Acquisition in Longitudinal Volumetric Analysis: Impacts and Solutions. Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers Annual Meeting, 2023.
  • Zuo et al. HACA3: A unified approach for multi-site MR image harmonization. Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics, 2023.

• Citation:

    @article{Zuo_CMSC2023,
    title = {Inconsistent MR Acquisition in Longitudinal Volumetric Analysis: Impacts and Solutions},
    journal = {International Journal of Multiple Sclerosis Care},
    volume = {25},
    issue = {Suppl. 1},
    pages = {12-13},
    year = {2023},
    author = {Lianrui Zuo and Savannah P. Hays and Blake E. Dewey and Samuel W. Remedios and
              Yuan Xue and Sandra D. Cassard and Carolyn Koch and Ann Fishman and 
              Aaron Carass and Jerry L. Prince and Ellen M. Mowry and Scott D. Newsome}
    }

  @article{ZUO2023102285,
  title = {HACA3: A unified approach for multi-site MR image harmonization},
  journal = {Computerized Medical Imaging and Graphics},
  volume = {109},
  pages = {102285},
  year = {2023},
  issn = {0895-6111},
  doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compmedimag.2023.102285},
  author = {Lianrui Zuo and Yihao Liu and Yuan Xue and Blake E. Dewey and
            Samuel W. Remedios and Savannah P. Hays and Murat Bilgel and 
            Ellen M. Mowry and Scott D. Newsome and Peter A. Calabresi and 
            Susan M. Resnick and Jerry L. Prince and Aaron Carass}
  }

• Contact me: Lianrui Zuo (email: [email protected]), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

• Learn more about our harmonization approach HACA3: project page

• Media coverage of this work:

  • NeurologyLive
  • Video Journal of Neurology

• Oral presentation on YouTube

• Poster: