Chepkoech Joy-Loi, Walhovd Kristine B, Grydeland Håkon, Fjell Anders M
Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition (LCBC), Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2016 May;37(5):1831-41. doi: 10.1002/hbm.23139. Epub 2016 Mar 28.
Studies have found non-negligible differences in cortical thickness estimates across versions of software that are used for processing and quantifying MRI-based cortical measurements, and issues have arisen regarding these differences, as obtained estimates could potentially affect the validity of the results. However, more critical for diagnostic classification than absolute thickness estimates across versions is the inter-subject stability. We aimed to investigate the effect of change in software version on classification of older persons in groups of healthy, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's Disease. Using MRI samples of 100 older normal controls, 100 with mild cognitive impairment and 100 Alzheimer's Disease patients obtained from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database, we performed a standard reconstruction processing using the FreeSurfer image analysis suite versions 4.1.0, 4.5.0 and 5.1.0. Pair-wise comparisons of cortical thickness between FreeSurfer versions revealed significant differences, ranging from 1.6% (4.1.0 vs. 4.5.0) to 5.8% (4.1.0 vs. 5.1.0) across the cortical mantle. However, change of version had very little effect on detectable differences in cortical thickness between diagnostic groups, and there were little differences in accuracy between versions when using entorhinal thickness for diagnostic classification. This lead us to conclude that differences in absolute thickness estimates across software versions in this case did not imply lacking validity, that classification results appeared reliable across software versions, and that classification results obtained in studies using different FreeSurfer versions can be reliably compared. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1831-1841, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
研究发现，用于处理和量化基于MRI的皮质测量的软件版本之间，皮质厚度估计存在不可忽视的差异，并且这些差异引发了一些问题，因为所获得的估计可能会影响结果的有效性。然而，对于诊断分类而言，比不同版本间绝对厚度估计更关键的是个体间的稳定性。我们旨在研究软件版本变化对老年人在健康、轻度认知障碍和阿尔茨海默病组分类的影响。使用从阿尔茨海默病神经影像倡议数据库获得的100名老年正常对照、100名轻度认知障碍患者和100名阿尔茨海默病患者的MRI样本，我们使用FreeSurfer图像分析套件版本4.1.0、4.5.0和5.1.0进行了标准重建处理。FreeSurfer版本之间皮质厚度的两两比较显示出显著差异，整个皮质层差异范围从1.6%（4.1.0与4.5.0相比）到5.8%（4.1.0与5.1.0相比）。然而，版本变化对诊断组间皮质厚度可检测差异的影响非常小，并且在使用内嗅皮质厚度进行诊断分类时，不同版本之间的准确性差异也很小。这使我们得出结论，在这种情况下，不同软件版本间绝对厚度估计的差异并不意味着缺乏有效性，分类结果在不同软件版本间似乎是可靠的，并且使用不同FreeSurfer版本的研究中获得的分类结果可以可靠地进行比较。《人类大脑图谱》37:1831 - 1841，2016年。© 2016威利期刊公司。
