A free software for the calculation of T2*values for iron overload assessment

Background: Iron overload assessment with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using T2* has become a key diagnostic method in the management of many diseases. Quantitative analysis of the MRI images with a cost-effective tool has been a limitation to increased use of the method. Purpose: To provide a free software solution for this purpose comparing the results with a commercial solution. Material and Methods: The free tool was developed as a standalone program to be directly downloaded and ran in a common personal computer platform without the need of a dedicated workstation. Liver and cardiac T2* values were calculated using both tools and the values obtained compared between them in a group of 56 patients with suspected iron overload using Bland-Altman plots and concordance correlation coefficients (CCC). Results: In the heart, the mean T2* differences between the two methods was 0.46ms (95% confidence interval [CI], -0.037 -0.965) and in the liver 0.49ms (95% CI, 0.257-0.722). The CCC for both the heart and the liver were significantly high (0.98 [95% CI, 0.966-0.988] with a Pearson of 0.9811 and 0.991 [95% CI, 0.986-0.994] with a Pearson of 0.996, respectively. No significant differences were observed when analyzing only patients with abnormal concentrations of iron in both organs compared to the whole cohort. Conclusion: The proposed free software tool is accurate for calculation of T2* values of the liver and heart and might be a solution for centers that cannot use paid commercial solutions.