Using modulated and smoothed data improves detectability of volume difference in group comparison, but reduces accuracy with atlas-based volumetry using Statistical Parametric Mapping 12 software

Background Atlas-based volumetry using three-dimensional T1-weighted (3D-T1W) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used previously to evaluate the volumes of intracranial tissues. Purpose To evaluate the detectability of volume difference and accuracy for volumetry using smoothed data with an atlas-based method. Material and Methods Twenty healthy individuals and 24 patients with idiopathic normal-pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) underwent 3-T MRI, and sagittal 3D-T1W images were obtained in all participants. Signal values (as tissue probability) of voxels in five segmented data types (gray matter, white matter, cerebrospinal fluid [CSF], skull, soft tissue) derived from the 3D-T1W images with SPM 12 software were assigned simulated 3D-T1W signal intensities to each tissue image. The assigned data were termed reference data. We created a reference 3D-T1W image that included the reference data of all five tissue types. Standard volumes were measured for the reference CSF data with region of interest of lateral ventricle in native space, and measured volumes were obtained for non-smoothed and smoothed-modulated data. Detectability was evaluated between measured volumes in the healthy control and iNPH groups. Accuracy was evaluated as the difference between the mean measured and standard volumes. Results In group comparison of measured volumes between the healthy control and iNPH groups, the lowest P value was for smoothed-modulated CSF data. In both groups, the largest difference from the standard volume was found for the mean of the measured volumes for smoothed-modulated CSF data. Conclusion Our study shows that using smoothed data can improve detectability in group comparison. However, using smoothed data reduces the accuracy of volumetry.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that using smoothed data can improve detectability in group comparison, while reducing the accuracy of volumetry.