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Test-retest reliability of automated whole body and compartmental muscle volume measurements on a wide bore 3T MR system

  • Musculoskeletal
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

To measure the test-retest reproducibility of an automated system for quantifying whole body and compartmental muscle volumes using wide bore 3 T MRI.

Materials and methods

Thirty volunteers stratified by body mass index underwent whole body 3 T MRI, two-point Dixon sequences, on two separate occasions. Water-fat separation was performed, with automated segmentation of whole body, torso, upper and lower leg volumes, and manually segmented lower leg muscle volumes.

Results

Mean automated total body muscle volume was 19·32 L (SD9·1) and 19·28 L (SD9·12) for first and second acquisitions (Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 1·0, 95 % level of agreement -0·32–0·2 L). ICC for all automated test-retest muscle volumes were almost perfect (0·99–1·0) with 95 % levels of agreement 1.8–6.6 % of mean volume. Automated muscle volume measurements correlate closely with manual quantification (right lower leg: manual 1·68 L (2SD0·6) compared to automated 1·64 L (2SD 0·6), left lower leg: manual 1·69 L (2SD 0·64) compared to automated 1·63 L (SD0·61), correlation coefficients for automated and manual segmentation were 0·94–0·96).

Conclusion

Fully automated whole body and compartmental muscle volume quantification can be achieved rapidly on a 3 T wide bore system with very low margins of error, excellent test-retest reliability and excellent correlation to manual segmentation in the lower leg.

Key Points

• Sarcopaenia is an important reversible complication of a number of diseases.

• Manual quantification of muscle volume is time-consuming and expensive.

• Muscles can be imaged using in and out of phase MRI.

• Automated atlas-based segmentation can identify muscle groups.

• Automated muscle volume segmentation is reproducible and can replace manual measurements.

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Acknowledgments

The scientific guarantor of this publication is Dr Andoni Toms. The authors of this manuscript, Magnus Borga, Olof Leinhard and Johannes Rosander, declare relationships with the following company: Advanced MR Analytics AB, Linköping, Sweden. The authors state that this work has not received any funding. One of the authors has significant statistical expertise. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained. Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects (patients) in this study. Methodology: prospective, experimental, multicenter study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, Norwich, UK

    Marianna S. Thomas, David Newman, Bahman Kasmai, Richard Greenwood, Paul N. Malcolm & Andoni P. Toms

  2. Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Olof Dahlqvist Leinhard, Anette Karlsson & Magnus Borga

  3. Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Olof Dahlqvist Leinhard

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    Anette Karlsson & Magnus Borga

  5. Advanced MR Analytics AB, Teknikringen 7, Linköping, Sweden

    Johannes Rosander

  6. Radiology Academy, Cotman Centre, Colney Lane, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7UB, UK

    Andoni P. Toms

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  1. Marianna S. Thomas
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  2. David Newman
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  3. Olof Dahlqvist Leinhard
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  5. Richard Greenwood
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  7. Anette Karlsson
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  8. Johannes Rosander
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  9. Magnus Borga
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  10. Andoni P. Toms
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andoni P. Toms.

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Thomas, M.S., Newman, D., Leinhard, O.D. et al. Test-retest reliability of automated whole body and compartmental muscle volume measurements on a wide bore 3T MR system. Eur Radiol 24, 2279–2291 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-014-3226-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-014-3226-6

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