Beijing Normal University, State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Xin-Jie-Kou-Wai Street 19, Beijing 100875, China.
J Biomed Opt. 2011 Jun;16(6):067008. doi: 10.1117/1.3591020.
Recently, resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (rs-fNIRS) research has experienced tremendous progress. Resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) has been adopted as a pivotal biomarker in rs-fNIRS studies. However, it is yet to be clear if the RSFC derived from rs-fNIRS is reliable. This concern impedes extensive utilization of rs-fNIRS. We systematically address the issue of reliability. Sixteen subjects participate in two rs-fNIRS sessions held one week apart. RSFC in sensorimotor system is calculated using the seed-correlation approach. Then, test-retest reliability is evaluated at three different scales (map-, cluster-, and channelwise) for individual- and group-level RSFC derived from different types of fNIRS signals [oxygenated (HbO), deoxygenated (HbR), and total hemoglobin (HbT)]. The results show that, for HbO signals, individual-level RSFC generally has good-to-excellent map-/clusterwise reliability, while group-level RSFC has excellent reliability. For HbT signals, the results are similar. For HbR signals, the clusterwise reliability is comparable to that for HbO while the mapwise reliability is slightly lower (fair to good). Focusing on RSFC at a single channel, we report poor channelwise reliability for all three types of signals. We hereby propose that fNIRS-derived RSFC is a reliable biomarker if interpreted in map- and clusterwise manners. However, channelwise interpretation of individual RSFC should proceed with caution.
最近，静息态近红外光谱（rs-fNIRS）研究取得了巨大进展。静息态功能连接（RSFC）已被作为 rs-fNIRS 研究中的关键生物标志物。然而，rs-fNIRS 得出的 RSFC 是否可靠尚不清楚。这一问题阻碍了 rs-fNIRS 的广泛应用。我们系统地解决了可靠性问题。16 名被试者参加了相隔一周进行的两次 rs-fNIRS 实验。使用种子相关法计算感觉运动系统中的 RSFC。然后，在个体和组水平上，分别从不同类型的近红外光谱信号（含氧血红蛋白（HbO）、脱氧血红蛋白（HbR）和总血红蛋白（HbT））中计算出的 RSFC，在三个不同的尺度（图谱、聚类和通道）上评估测试-重测信度。结果表明，对于 HbO 信号，个体水平的 RSFC 通常具有良好到极好的图谱/聚类信度，而组水平的 RSFC 具有极好的信度。对于 HbT 信号，结果类似。对于 HbR 信号，聚类信度与 HbO 相当，图谱信度略低（中等至良好）。对于单个通道的 RSFC，我们报告说所有三种类型的信号的通道信度都较差。因此，我们提出如果以图谱和聚类的方式解释，那么由近红外光谱得出的 RSFC 是一种可靠的生物标志物。然而，个体 RSFC 的通道解释应该谨慎进行。
