Work

Inter-subject receive-template substitution for quantitative brain water content mapping at 3 T: a leave-one-out evaluation

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Introduction To evaluate a configuration-specific inter-subject receive template as an alternative to participant-specific receive referencing within the evaluated 3 T scanner configuration. Methods Datasets from twenty-five healthy subjects were analyzed using a strict leave-one-participant-out method. Each degree-3 template used the other 24 participants. Arm E used a participant-specific effective relative receive divisor; Arm T used the held-out template. Both arms underwent independent, identically defined residual calibration, including a local intercept (C 0 ), its spatially regularized field (μ), and the mean-normalized form used downstream (μ). This was followed by ventricular-CSF calibration. Primary outcomes were participant-level median quantitative water content (qWC) in white and gray matter; whole brain was secondary. Paired bias, mean absolute error (MAE), Bland–Altman limits, Pearson r, and Lin concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) were calculated. Results Mean relative receive-template mismatch was 2.273% (standard deviation (SD), 0.568%; range, 1.431%–3.615%). Mean Arm T minus Arm E differences were −0.04 percentage units (p.u.; dimensionless water fraction relative to pure water = 100 p.u.) in white matter and −0.17 p.u. in gray matter; MAE was 0.17 and 0.22 p.u., and CCC was 0.991 and 0.989, respectively. Whole-brain bias was −0.12 p.u. (MAE, 0.19 p.u.; CCC, 0.993). Bland–Altman widths were below 1 p.u. Exploratory associations between global mismatch and qWC disagreement were weak; all 95% participant-bootstrap confidence intervals spanned zero. Discussion Under symmetric arm-specific calibration, the configuration-specific template produced qWC estimates in close agreement with the participant-specific explicit reference strategy. This internal matched-configuration result supports technical feasibility but does not establish formal equivalence, interchangeability, or external generalization.

Source: Frontiers in Neuroscience

DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2026.1986813

Authors: Zaheer Abbas, Faizan Ullah, Sergo Gegechkori, Wieland A. Worthoff, N. Jon Shah

Institutions: Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich Aachen Research Alliance, RWTH Aachen University

Language: English

Topic: Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications

Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,801