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Abstract #2645

Regional change in DTI parameters due to scanner upgrade: effects on TBSS and ROI analysis

Petra Pouwels 1 , Frederik Barkhof 2 , Rudolf Verdaasdonk 1 , and Joost Kuijer 1

1 Physics & Medical Technology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2 Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Regional changes in DTI parameters were observed in healthy volunteers at 3T after a hardware upgrade. Pairwise comparison (mimicking longitudinal studies) showed significant FA differences in 26.7% of the WM skeleton, and in all diffusivities, especially in the body of the corpus callosum. Unpaired comparison (mimicking cross-sectional studies) still showed FA differences in 5.5% of the skeleton. A change in gradient system and related eddy-current behaviour might be the cause of the observations. No pairwise differences were observed in repeated measurements on the same scanner. These results emphasize the need to take scanner upgrade into account in the study design.

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