Quantitative variations in texture analysis features dependent on MRI scanning parameters: A phantom model

Objectives To evaluate the influence of MRI scanning parameters on texture analysis features. Methods Publicly available data from the Reference Image Database to Evaluate Therapy Response (RIDER) project sponsored by The Cancer Imaging Archive included MRIs on a phantom comprised of 18 25-mm doped, gel-filled tubes, and 1 20-mm tube containing 0.25 mM Gd-DTPA (EuroSpinII Test Object5, Diagnostic Sonar, Ltd, West Lothian, Scotland). MRIs performed on a 1.5 T GE HD, 1.5 T Siemens Espree (VB13), or 3.0 T GE HD with TwinSpeed gradients with an eight-channel head coil included T1WIs with multiple flip angles (flip-angle = 2,5,10,15,20,25,30), TR/TE = 4.09-5.47/0.90-1.35 ms, NEX = 1 and DCE with 30 degrees flip-angle, TR/TE=4.09-5.47/0.90-1.35, and NEX = 1,4. DICOM data were imported into an in-house developed texture analysis program which extracted 41-texture features including histogram, gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), and gray-level run-length (GLRL). Two-tailed t tests, corrected for multiple comparisons (Q values) were calculated to compare changes in texture features with variations in MRI scanning parameters (magnet strength, flip-angle, number of excitations (NEX), scanner platform). Results Significant differences were seen in histogram features (mean, median, standard deviation, range) with variations in NEX (Q = 0.003-0.045) and scanner platform (Q < 0.0001), GLCM features (entropy, contrast, energy, and homogeneity) with NEX (Q = 0.001-0.018) and scanner platform (Q < 0.0001), GLRL features (long-run emphasis, high gray-level run emphasis, high gray-level emphasis) with magnet strength (Q = 0.0003), NEX (Q = 0.003-0.022) and scanner platform (Q < 0.0001). Conclusion Significant differences were seen in many texture features with variations in MRI acquisition emphasizing the need for standardized MRI technique.