In vivo metabolite quantification by short echo time MR spectroscopy is a challenge for which various methods have been proposed. In this study, the reproducibility of quantification outcomes is questioned at three distinct levels: (i) between-software (LCModel and cQUEST), (ii) withinsoftware (with different parameter sets), and (iii) across software executions (when the fitting algorithm uses random seeds, like cQUEST). After running multiple quantification tasks on a dedicated platform (VIP), metrics from Bland-Altman analysis were used to assess the variability of outcomes in signals acquired on a lysolecithin rat model, from a study on demyelination. Results show substantial variations at the three levels, allowing for more potent analyses than from a single parameter set / single software point of view.
@article{arxiv.2303.05147,
title = {Computational Reproducibility in Metabolite Quantification Applied to Short Echo Time in Vivo MR Spectroscopy},
author = {Gaël Vila and Axel Bonnet and Fabien Chauveau and Sophie Gaillard and Françoise Durand-Dubief and Sorina Camarasu-Pop and Helene Ratiney},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2303.05147},
year = {2023}
}