Multi-site Quality Assurance of Diffusion and Fat-Water Imaging for Neuromuscular Applications: A Phantom Study

Motivation: Quality assurance for diffusion and proton density fat fraction (PDFF) imaging is essential across vendors for our multi-site studies. Goal(s): To develop DWI and PDFF protocols and analysis tools to assess reproducibility. Approach: DWI and PDFF protocols were applied to three 3T MRI systems (GE, Philips, and Siemens) using diffusion and PDFF phantoms. Measured ADC and PDFF values were compared across scanners and also with reference values. Correlation coefficient, root-mean-square error (RMSE), and ANOVA analyses were also applied. Results: High reproducibility and accuracy were achieved across the MRI vendors, as indicated by the R2, correlation coefficient, RMSE, as well as ANOVA. Impact: Our findings demonstrate that quality assurance can be effectively maintained across the three MRI systems, ensuring reliable and accurate DWI and PDFF measurements, which is crucial for our multi-site studies.