%0 Journal Article
%T Variations in knee cartilage thickness: Fully automatic three-dimensional analysis of MRIs from five manufacturers.
%A Katano H
%A Nagai K
%A Kaneko H
%A Sasaki E
%A Hashiguchi N
%A Kuroda R
%A Ishijima M
%A Ishibashi Y
%A Adachi N
%A Tomita M
%A Masumoto J
%A Sekiya I
%J Eur J Radiol
%V 176
%N 0
%D 2024 Jul 24
%M 38815306
%F 4.531
%R 10.1016/j.ejrad.2024.111528
%X BACKGROUND: Measurements of knee cartilage thickness derived from MR images are attractive biomarkers for osteoarthritis research. Although some cross-sectional multivendor studies exist, none have employed fully automatic three-dimensional MRI analysis. Our objective was to evaluate the variations in knee cartilage thickness measurements obtained using automated methods and MRI instruments from five different vendors.
METHODS: The subjects were 10 healthy volunteers aged 22-60 years. MRI models with 3 Tesla strength from five different companies were used. Cartilage thickness was quantified fully automatically for seven regions. We hypothesized that "the MRI model influences cartilage thickness measurements." Inter-measurement error, defined as the absolute difference between the targeted and median thicknesses determined by the five MRI models, was analyzed using histograms. The factors generating the largest inter-measurement error were also examined.
RESULTS: No exceptional trends attributable to a specific instrument model were observed, and the p-value from the Kruskal-Wallis test exceeded 0.05 in all seven regions. Therefore, the study hypothesis was rejected. Of the 350 measurements, the inter-measurement error was ≤0.05 mm in 53 %, ≤0.10 mm in 75 %, and ≤0.20 mm in 95 %. Analysis of the medial tibial cartilage, which had the largest inter-measurement error, revealed mis-extraction of synovial fluid as cartilage.
CONCLUSIONS: The choice of MRI model did not influence cartilage thickness measurements. Overall, 95 % of the inter-measurement errors were within 0.20 mm. The greatest error resulted from mis-extracting synovial fluid as cartilage.