Biometry and volumetry in multi-centric fetal brain magnetic resonance imaging: assessing the bias of super-resolution reconstruction
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Fetal brain MRI is increasingly used to complement ultrasound imaging. Images are processed using complex super-resolution reconstruction pipelines, which may bias biometric and volumetric measurements. OBJECTIVE: To assess the consistency of 2-dimensional (D) biometric and 3-D volumetric measurements across three hospitals using three widely used super-resolution reconstruction pipelines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective multi-centric study used T2-weighted fetal brain MRI scans acquired at three hospitals between 2009 and 2023. MRIs from each subject were reconstructed with each super-resolution reconstruction method, and biometric measurements were performed by four experts. Automated 3-D volumetry was performed using a state-of-the-art segmentation method. A qualitative evaluation assessed the clinicians' likelihood of using super-resolution reconstructed volumes in their practice. RESULTS: Eighty-four healthy subjects were included. Biometric measurements revealed statistically significant changes that consistently remained below voxel width (0.8 mm; P<0.001). Automated 3-D volumetry revealed small systematic effects (<2.8%; P<0.001). The qualitative evaluation showed systematic differences between super-resolution reconstruction methods for the perception of white matter intensity (P=0.02) and sharpness of the image (P=0.01). CONCLUSION: Variations in 2-D and 3-D quantitative measurements did not show any large systematic bias when using different super-resolution reconstruction methods for clinical radiological assessment across centers, scanners, and raters.
Source: Pediatric Radiology
Institutions: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Hôpital Orthopédique de la Suisse Romande, Centre d'Imagerie BioMedicale, University of Lausanne, Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, Hôpital de la Timone, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona, Centre for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases, Consorci Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi I Sunyer, Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,190
Funders: National Science Foundation, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Université de Genève, Université de Lausanne, Centre d'Imagerie BioMédicale, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Awards: G1105844351, G1175115578, Dynamics of cortical morphology during childhood development, G2262748287, G2672435700, G279363373, G300979063, G3010527862, G34346518, G3480869486, G425668148, G491712853, G5080475149, Estudio multicéntrico del proceso de desarrollo cortical fetal anormal aplicando métodos estandarizados y protegidos de resonancia magnética fetal, G7084143925, Multi-centric study of Fetal Abnormal Cortical Trajectory with standardised and privacy_x0002_preserving method on fetal MRI, Multicentric study of Fetal Abnormal Cortical Trajectory with standardised and privacy-preserving method on fetal MRI, G7805626310, G7863371703, G8497050386, G8696694383
OpenAlex ID: W4413052337