Estimating and accounting for the effect of MRI scanner changes on longitudinal whole-brain volume change measurements

Objective: Longitudinal MRI studies are often subjected to mid-study scanner changes, which may alter image characteristics such as contrast, signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio, intensity non-uniformity and geometric distortion. Measuring brain volume loss under these conditions can render the results potentially unreliable across the timepoint of the change. Estimating and accounting for this effect may improve the reliability of estimates of brain atrophy rates. Methods: We analyzed 237 subjects who were scanned at 1.5 T for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) study and were subject to intra-vendor or inter-vendor scanner changes during follow-up (up to 8 years). Sixty-three subjects scanned on GE Signa HDx and HDxt platforms were also subject to a T1-weighted sequence change from Magnetization Prepared Rapid Gradient Echo (MP-RAGE) to Fast Spoiled Gradient Echo with IR Preparation (IR-FSPGR), as part of the transition from ADNI-1 to ADNI-2/GO. Two-timepoint percentage brain volume changes (PBVCs) between the baseline "screening" and the follow-up scans were calculated using SIENA. A linear mixed-effects model with subject-specific random slopes and intercepts was applied to estimate the fixed effects of scanner hardware changes on the PBVC measures. The same model also included a term to estimate the fixed effects of the T1-weighted sequence change. Results: Different hardware upgrade or change combinations led to different offsets in the PBVC (SE; p): Philips Intera to Siemens Avanto, -1.81% (0.30; p < 0.0001); GE Genesis Signa to Philips Intera, 0.99% (0.47, p = 0.042); GE Signa Excite to Signa HDx, 0.33% (0.095, p = 0.0005); GE Signa Excite to Signa HDxt, -0.023% (0.23, p = 0.92); GE Signa Excite to Signa HDx to Signa HDxt, 0.25% (0.095, p = 0.010) and 0.27% (0.16, p = 0.098), respectively; GE Signa HDx to Signa HDxt, -0.24% (0.25, p = 0.34); Siemens Symphony to Symphony TIM, -0.39% (0.16; p = 0.019). The sequence change from MP-RAGE to IR-SPGR was associated with an average -1.63% (0.12; p < 0.0001) change. Conclusion: Inter-vendor scanner changes generally led to greater effects on PBVC measurements than did intra-vendor scanner upgrades. The effect of T1-weighted sequence change was comparable to that of the inter-vendor scanner changes. Inclusion of the corrective fixed-effects terms for the scanner hardware and T1-weighted sequence changes yielded better model goodness-of-fits, and thus, potentially more reliable estimates of whole-brain atrophy rates.