Inter-vendor and inter-observer reliability of diffusion tensor imaging in the musculoskeletal system: a multiscanner MR study

Abstract

BackgroundTo evaluate the inter-observer and inter-vendor reliability of diffusion tensor imaging parameters in the musculoskeletal system.MethodsThis prospective study included six healthy volunteers three men (mean age: 42; range: 31–52 years) and three women (mean age: 36; range: 30–44 years).Each subject was scanned using different 3 Tesla magnetic resonance scanners from three different vendors at three different sites bilaterally. First, the intra-class correlation coefficient was used to determine between-observers agreement for overall measurements and clinical sites. Next, between-group comparisons were made through the nonparametric Friedman’s test. Finally, the Bland–Altman method was used to determine agreement among the three scanner measurements, comparing them two by two.ResultsA total of 792 measurement were calculated. ICC reported high levels of agreement between the two observers. ICC related to MD, FA, and RD measurements ranged from 0.88 (95% CI 0.85–0.90) to 0.95 (95% CI 0.94–0.96), from 0.85 (95% CI 0.81–0.88) to 0.95 (95% CI 0.93–0.96), and from 0.89 (0.85–0.90) to 0.92 (0.90–0.94).No statistically significant inter-vendor differences were observed. The Bland–Altmann method confirmed a high correlation between parameter values.ConclusionAn excellent inter-observer and inter-vendor reliability was found in our study.