Voxel-based morphometry at ultra-high fields. A comparison of 7 T and 3 T MRI data

Abstract

Recent technological progress enables MRI recordings at ultra-high fields of 7T and above leading to brain images of higher resolution and increased signal-to-noise ratio. Despite these benefits, imaging at 7T exhibits distinct challenges due to B1 field inhomogeneities, causing decreased image quality and problems in data analysis. Although several strategies have been proposed, a systematic investigation of bias-corrected 7T data for voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is still missing and it is an ongoing matter of debate if VBM at 7T can be carried out properly. Here, an optimized VBM study was conducted, evaluating the impact of field strength (3T vs. 7T) and pulse sequence (MPRAGE vs. MP2RAGE) on gray matter volume (GMV) estimates. More specifically, twenty-two participants were measured under the conditions 3T MPRAGE, 7T MPRAGE and 7T MP2RAGE. Due to the fact that 7T MPRAGE data exhibited strong intensity inhomogeneities, an alternative preprocessing pipeline was proposed and applied for that data. VBM analysis revealed higher GMV estimates for 7T predominantly in superior cortical areas, caudate nucleus, cingulate cortex and the hippocampus. On the other hand, 3T yielded higher estimates especially in inferior cortical areas of the brain, cerebellum, thalamus and putamen compared to 7T. Besides minor exceptions, these results were observed for 7T MPRAGE as well for the 7T MP2RAGE measurements. Results gained in the inferior parts of the brain should be taken with caution, as native GM segmentations displayed misclassifications in these regions for both 7T sequences. This was supported by the test–retest measurements showing highest variability in these inferior regions of the brain for 7T and also for the advanced MP2RAGE sequence. Hence, our data support the use of 7T MRI for VBM analysis in cortical areas, but direct comparison between field strengths and sequences requires careful assessment. Similarly, analysis of the inferior cortical regions, cerebellum and subcortical regions still remains challenging at 7T even if the advanced MP2RAGE sequence is used.